CENTENNIAL SUNDAYS
Journal printed much more than just the facts
Editor鈥檚 note: Centennial Sundays are published in honor of the Lang family鈥檚 100-year ownership of the 近距离内射合集. This week鈥檚 package focuses on some of the non-news features found on Journal pages through the years.
鈥楯ournal readers take their funnies quite seriously鈥�
That was the headline on a March 5, 2000, Journal story about new comic strips the paper was trying out to replace old ones. The Journal invited comments 鈥� and it got plenty.
One reader accused Journal editors of being 鈥渢iny-brained folks鈥� for considering canceling Mr. Boffo. Over the last decades, comics changes have elicited more public response than any news stories.
Case in point: When Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz died in February 2000, the strip鈥檚 syndicator offered to sell reruns of those already published.
The Journal, figuring folks would get tired of seeing reruns, opted to replace Peanuts with a new comic. Wrong decision. After 50 years of Peanuts, and a short hiatus, the Journal resumed Peanuts due to reader demand. Peanuts remains a mainstay on Journal pages today.
Good Morning greets readers for 50 years
Starting in 1926, and continuing for more than 75 years, Journal readers were greeted each day with a Good Morning 鈥� a one-paragraph blurb that ran on page one. Each night the Copy Desk chief was responsible for writing the next day鈥檚 Good Morning. But he or she did not do it alone. Everyone in the company 鈥� including those in the backshop 鈥� would submit suggestions. Sometimes tied to current events, sometimes completely random, the Good Mornings were aimed at bringing a smile 鈥� or a roll of the eyes 鈥� to readers.
They continued until 2001.
Advertising offers peek into history
While advertising has long served as a vital revenue source for the Journal, it has also offered a unique window into the lifestyles of past generations: What are the fashions being sold? What political issues are being weighed? How have prices changed?
Display ads from the Journal archives provide a sense of what Albuquerque life was like in the past. A Kistler, Collister ad in June 1926 touted spring coats costing $23.75 and silk dresses for $19.75.
The same edition of the Journal displays an ad for Sunshine Theatre, which listed evening movie tickets on the lower floor for 50 cents and balcony tickets for 35 cents. The ad promised the theater would be 鈥減erfectly ventilated and cooled鈥� (important for June in Albuquerque), as well as featuring two organists, W.H. Schreiber and Mrs. C.C. Root. The theater鈥檚 main movie attraction was Zane Grey鈥檚 鈥淏orn to the West.鈥�
In 2005, Verizon starts advertising cutting-edge camera flip phones for $29.95 and up. At the time, these represented the peak of mainstream mobile tech for the average consumer. Apple鈥檚 iPhone came on the market two years later.
Some ads sparked controversy. In the early 1970s, a local 鈥渟trip club鈥� threatened to sue the Journal because the newspaper refused to print an ad for the establishment. Bill Lang, then a teenager and years before he became publisher, was tasked with going to the club to view the ad. He ended up drawing additional clothes onto the partially clad model in the ad so the image could be published in the family newspaper.
Classified ads are small but mighty
In addition to display ads, the Journal published pages and pages of classified ads each day.
They ranged from home sales to auto sales to job offerings to lost pets 鈥� all critical aspects of daily life.
Looking at past classifieds is like looking at tiny gems of history. A rental section in 1926 lists dozens of rooms 鈥� not apartments 鈥� for rent: 鈥淓xcellent room and board, cool home. 508 W. Copper,鈥� reads one. Several specifically welcome those convalescing from tuberculosis: 鈥淟ARGE AIRY ROOMS 鈥� Very best for convalescents. $88 monthly. 511 So. Broadway,鈥� reads another.
The Journal鈥檚 one millionth classified ad was placed on Dec. 31, 1995, offering a 1964 Dodge pickup for $1,200, or best offer. A framed copy of the ad鈥檚 page hangs in the foyer outside the Journal鈥檚 Ray Cary auditorium.
