The archived articles at the Florida and Puerto Rico Digital Newspaper Project offer unique insight into the world of “patent medicines:” unlicensed and unregulated products sold as over-the-counter medicine, regardless of their effectiveness. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, most local newspapers contained dozens of advertisements for these cure-all tonics, potions, and pills.
La Correspondencia (1890-1943), was founded by Ramón B. López and it quickly gained popularity among the people on the island as it is considered to be the first daily newspaper that was most accessible to the public. It circulated throughout Puerto Rico, with approximately 5,000 copies printed per day. Eventually, it would gain the nicknameContinue reading A Glimpse into 20th Century “Modas” in Puerto Rico
On April 29, 1915, sandwiched between advertisements for “Groves Tasteless Chill Tonic” and “Chamberlain’s Tablets” near the bottom of page two of the Thursday edition of the Pensacola Journal (column five), was a short report on the Turkish arrest of hundreds of Armenian residents of Constantinople (Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The obscure placement of the article must have made sense to the editors given other dramatic stories reported that day. America was at peace, but Europe and much of the world was in the ninth month of World War I. The small Pensacola paper dutifully relayed the developments in that week’s landing of Allied troops along the Gallipoli Peninsula in an attempt to wrest control of the Dardanelles from Turkish troops and seize Constantinople, a campaign designed to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war on the road to the defeat of that country and its ally, Germany.
Today we bring you a guest post by R. Boyd Murphree, Project Manager, Florida Family and Community History, Digital Services and Shared Collections, University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries. He can be contacted at bmurphree@ufl.edu and is also on Twitter @boyd_murphree. In his 1962 alternative history novel, The Man in the High Castle, PhilipContinue reading The Hinge of Fate: The Attempted Assassination of FDR in Miami
We just posted about a new batch of The Key West Citizen, but even more pages were just uploaded to Chronicling America!
Even more pages of The Key West Citizen are now available in Chronicling America!
Today we bring you a guest post by R. Boyd Murphree, Project Manager, Florida Family and Community History, Digital Services and Shared Collections, University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries. He can be contacted at bmurphree@ufl.edu and is also on Twitter @boyd_murphree. November 11, 1918, the last day of World War I, was anything butContinue reading When it was Over Over There: Florida Soldiers and the End of World War I
This post was authored by Sarah “Moxy” Moczygemba, the former Outreach and Social Media Assistant for this project. It’s spooky season once again so we’ve collected more clippings about ghost towns in Florida. Why are there so many ghost towns in Florida? Christopher Strain explains that the waves of development in the state result inContinue reading More Ghost Towns of Florida
Today we bring you a guest post by R. Boyd Murphree, Project Manager, Florida Family and Community History, Digital Services and Shared Collections, University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries. He can be contacted at bmurphree@ufl.edu and is also on Twitter @boyd_murphree. As the end of the centennial of World War I approaches (November 11,Continue reading “Ship Went Down With All On Board”: Remembering the USS Tampa
This seemingly unstoppable flu, which affected every segment of the population, stumped doctors and created a public health crisis. In this blog post, we’ll discuss attempts to limit the spread of the disease and some of the products that were incorrectly marketed as methods to prevent or cure the flu.
