The legendary newsboys have appeared in DC Comics , the Disney film Newsies, a Broadway musical and in a nonfiction book called Kids on Strike! Now Shoeleather History Project brings us the sad tale of the 1909 Hartford strike. The children who sold newspaper to survive were caught in the struggle between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. To boost earnings, the two newspaper moguls stopped buying back unsold newspapers from the newsies. Shoeleather tells us of the union buster, Herman P. Koppelmann, who lied, bullied and hired scabs to break the strike. He succeeded, and went on to get himself elected a U.S. Congressman as a Democrat on a pro-labor ticket. Sounds like he’d fit right in with today’s Democratic Party.
Always wanted to live like a governor? Now’s your chance. The home of former Vermont Governor Redfield Proctor Jr. (the third of four members of the Proctor family dynasty to hold the office) is up for auction in a couple of days. The current owners have decided the best way to sell the 1915 colonial revival is to auction it in hopes that someone who wants to help preserve Vermont’s historical properties will step forward. Looks like a beautiful house, based on the photos. But a Proctor building brick home? Shouldn’t it be marble?
Connecticut History brings us the story of the banned rock festival at Powder Ridge in 1970. Almost a year after Woodstock, rock promoters organized the July 31-Aug.2 concert at the Connecticut ski resort. Performers were to include Sly & the Family Stone, Fleetwood Mac, Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, Jethro Tull and Janis Joplin. The young people flocked to the ski slope early, the neighbors complained and the courts banned the show. Watch David Brinkley’s sardonic observation on the July 31 Huntley-Brinkley report: “The young people had nothing to do.”
Today’s Flashback Photo is our own History Cat, whose satirical commentary on the state of liberty at the turn of the 20th century, as enjoyed by cats, we published this week. Hopefully it gives you a laugh as you head into your weekend.
Today’s Flashback Photo
