How can I find old newspapers?

You could copy them at a local library. They frown on cutting up the originals.

Otherwise, unless you know a hoarder or someone who works at a newspaper you may be out of luck.

When I wrote my autobiographies there were a number of newspaper front pages I needed, if I remember correctly I contacted the achives and purchased the relevant copies, this was in the UK however, and they weren't cheap.

If you don't mind photocopies, then visit your local library. They have newspapers on microfilm and all you have to do is search their computerized database for the subjects that fit your "conspiracy wall." Find your article, print it, then there you go.

underthecity said:

If you don't mind photocopies, then visit your local library. They have newspapers on microfilm and all you have to do is search their computerized database for the subjects that fit your "conspiracy wall." Find your article, print it, then there you go.

Click to expand...

And if you want them to look old, use the cheapest paper possible, and then leave them out in the sun for a while.

MM

Go to some storage lockers auctions. You can get a locker filled with newspaper for nothing generally.

Alessandra Kelley said:

Oh, and I believe there may be online sources of scanned old newspapers.

Click to expand...

There are (or were - I haven't checked on them in a while) a few Google Groups who were scanning and uploading old newspapers, though the majority of the papers were pre-1900. I'm sure if you do an image search you will find several old newspapers turning up, though occasionally you will come across doctored pictures, which have changed the original wording / altered images for ridiculous reasons.

I'm still hunting for several newspapers to fill in gaps from the historical record, so this is one of the things I go nuts over...

It will probably take a lot more newspapers than you would expect to cover your wall. Best to allow for that, if you're looking either for vintage newspapers or for articles on a particular theme.

If you do find good ones, I'd recommend scanning them and printing out copies for your wall. If you are trying to cover the whole wall, duplication is not so bad.

I just got my Nov issue of 'Country Living' magazine yesterday.
This guy had covered walls and the ceiling of a powder room with old newspapers. IIRC it said he had gotten a trunk full of them for $20. I think it said he had used a clear sealer on them to keep them from yellowing further.

MM

I have no idea where you would get them, but I just wanted to say that this sounds like a cool idea.

You might want to try contacting some of your local newspapers to see if they're willing to help you with something. While they may not be able to send you copies of old newspapers, they may have other options that may be of use, including digital and uploaded copies of old newspapers online. Also, don't forget to look for the online versions of the newspapers. Since many have gone online, you'll be able to print out more recent articles for your wall. Check to see if they run old articles (particularly around Halloween on creepy stuff or unsolved mysteries) or have the old articles online. One suggestion is Patch.com. That's something that's in my area for local newspapers.

Speaking of digital newspaper files online, you might want to Google it that way. Not sure if the newspapers or the libraries do that but someone might.

Go to www.nytimes.com and you can get a lot of articles to copy and print (as someone said, on cream or butter-colored paper) from 1851 on.

Speaking of the NYT, I know there's a piece on a giant water creature from the 20s on their online database, freely available for viewing - it swam alongside a ferry for a few hundred feet before disappearing under the water again.

Problem w/ the originals is if you want something years or even decades old, it might be crumbly, smelly, and hard to work with.

In our area you can find auction and estate sales where old magazines and newspapers go for next to nothing.

Try flea markets? If the merchants there don't have anything, you might try asking them if they know anyone who can help you.

I have some newspapers I hoarded ahem, "saved", because they had historical significance.

• The fall of the Berlin Wall
• The crash of a Space Shuttle
• Sept 11.
• The Gulf War
• When my name showed on Page 1 of the local paper for a speech I gave

I forgot to get one when they found Bin Laden
I should get one from this week because of the news from Libya.

They are not showing significant signs of aging, having been stored in a closed file cabinet.

I don't want to part with them though. I'm thinking they would be awesome for a Grandchild's history or sociology report twenty years from now.