Have you noticed the world seems a little screwed up these days? It’s kind of like somewhere along the way, the plan went sideways. If you’re among those who are feeling a little lost by all of it, or are tuning out because of it — and because of all the yelling, we’ve got something for you.
It’s a little softer, perhaps a little more constructive, hopefully instructive, and at the very least, good food for a curious mind. It’s a look back. It’s a return to beginning, or at least the earlier years. Because maybe there’s something back there that tells us about today.
Here’s Volume 1, Edition Number 2 of Today in Minot. It’s just some of the news worth noting from ninety eight years ago! If you’d like to catch up on last week, find Volume 1 Number 1 here from May 13, 1926.
It was rough out there! And wow does our language evolve!
You’ll see this headline (It was rough out there!) recur in these reports because if there’s one thing that’s true about a 100 years ago, it’s that lots more people were dying from awful accidents and tragedies. Perhaps there’s a reason everything comes with a warning or safety feature today.
The other notable story — aside from the fact that domestic affairs have always been difficult 🙂 — is the story of the social worker and the manner in which she not only speaks of children with disabilities, but how we — collectively — addressed their challenges. Today, the sensitivity in our language has changed as much as our practices. Does that make us all ‘woke’ or just decent people who acknowledge when they can do better for other members of our community?
And the circus was coming to town. From experience, searching for the Lord George Sanger Circus of England on Google may cost you more minutes than you care to lose right now.
Political Turmoil is Not Unique to Our Time
Today, as our political parties struggle to define themselves, it may be tempting to assume this is all new. It’s not. In 1926, the North Dakota Democratic party has having a hard time figuring out how they were. So they ran a contest to see if someone would tell them. I’d bet a lot of people feel the same way about both our political parties today!
When the Post Office Was Revered!
Today, we take the delivery of messages for granted. A hundred years ago, getting a letter in the mail was something special. Perhaps that’s a difference that deserves recognition when we talk about the post office?
Commentary aside, 98-years ago the state postal convention (do they still have those?) had just been held in Minot. And by all accounts, it was a proud affair.
When the advertising was working for you!
Advertising has long been revenue support for the news business. But the distribution of advertising dollars was VERY different in our past. Today, there’s — lets’ just say — a lot of different options for a advertising a local business. In 1926, there may have been two. And they were both local newspapers.
The commentary on the state of local advertising is eye opening. And so was an ad that Minot businessmen had recently placed in the Star Tribune speaking of the how well our region was doing. I’ll be bringing that ad back to you in a future edition of this series. The other part that’s just plane fun, looking at the ads. The stores wanted you to know what they had happening, and they were having some fun with it, too. We’re trying to reproduce that model with SavorMinot, and if you subscribe to our daily newsletter, it helps us make the case to more businesses!
And Always a Little Inspiring…
