Heather Latter
Tomorrow’s 80th anniversary of the Daily Bulletin of the Fort Frances Times might have gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been for a copy of the first-ever edition recently resurfacing.
Lyle Snider discovered the yellowed, one-page paper earlier this year lining the bottom drawer of a dresser that had been passed down through his family.
He said the dresser belonged to his grandmother, Mary Greer, who passed away in 1965, then belonged to his mother, Dora May Snider, until her passing in 2003.
Snider received the aged piece of furniture after his brother died in 2004.
“Then it came to me,” he remarked, noting he was cleaning out the dresser back in the spring for his granddaughter to use when he came across the Bulletin.
“I looked at it and saw Vol. 1—No. 1 and realized it was a pretty significant paper,” Snider said.
“We went and got a frame for it right away.”
Being hidden in a drawer for nearly 80 years, the Bulletin was in excellent condition, with just one small tear along the edge.
In a foreword printed in the Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1931 edition, the Times noted, “Today the Times issues its first Bulletin of a service that it is proposed to issue each day of the week, Thursday excepted, to patrons of Fort Frances in order that a properly printed and edited daily news and advertising service may be available.”
It goes on to explain that “this action has been taken after repeated requests from advertisers of the Times and others who desire a daily Bulletin service.”
It also noted that “it will be devoted to items of daily interest, news of our merchants, and will be at your home for the evening supper hour.”
Times office manager Linda Plumridge said when her family bought the business, they thought it was important to have more than just a weekly paper.
“For the community, it’s a big source of the way news events could be told,” she reasoned, citing obituaries were timely and residents often didn’t have other ways of getting the news.
She noted the Bulletin started as a one-page sheet that wasn’t always full. But about 15 years ago, the Times made the commitment of an eight-page minimum.
“It’s really neat when someone discovers an old paper because we get to see what was important at that time,” Plumridge said, noting the Times has files of old papers that are sealed away.
“It’s a reflection of the time and gives you a connection to a place.”
“We got a kick out of reading some of the things on it,” said Snider.
The top headline of the first edition was “Criminal Court Opens Today” and goes on to inform that Judge McLellan presided over the three criminal cases (charges of assault, buying stolen goods, and breaking and entering) and two civil cases that were up for hearing.
The news items were brief, unlike the more complete stories written by reporters today.
The 80-year-old paper tells of visitors to Fort Frances, such as Mr. and Mrs. Otto Myers and family of Stratton, who visited town on Saturday, and that “Mrs. Joe Williams of Purt, Ont. left today for home after a visit with E.J. Ryan.”
It also shares some unfortunate incidences, including that “George Kroft, 14-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Art Kroft, had the misfortune on Saturday to fall and break his arm” and that “the 2-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Warren was severely burned about the head and shoulders on Friday afternoon when her dress caught fire.”
The paper also informs about the annual convention of the Teachers’ Association of the Rainy River District set to be held at Fort Frances High School on Oct. 8-9, in addition to the national news of Philadelphia defeating St. Louis 3-0 in the fourth game of the World Series (according to radio reports).
Advertised are ladies dresses at the G.H. Ross Co. priced at $6.95 and $7.95, and an outstanding special of fresh eggs, 22 cents per dozen, at Mac’s Blue Bird Groceterias.
The Fort Frances Hotel advertised rooms with running water while the Monarch Hotel announced its 30-cent meals—day and night service.
Meanwhile, a new lot of sheet music had arrived at Preston’s Drug Store and free goods were available at Baeker’s Drug Store—A 50¢ Dental Mirror with every Dr. West Tooth Brush or a 25¢ Tube Colgates Tooth Paste with every purchase of Colgates or Palm Olive Toilet Goods.
In addition, Fort Meat Market advertised Wednesday specials—hamburger, 10 cents per pound, and pork chops, 20 cents per pound, while Fulton’s Store was selling two loaves of bread for 15 cents.
“It’s a snapshot of time,” noted Plumridge. “And it’s often better than someone’s memory.”
She indicated both the Times and Bulletin have come a long way since they began, in many different aspects.
“There is something everlasting in it,” she remarked.
Snider, meanwhile, was happy to share his discovery of the first-ever Bulletin with the Times, but plans to keep the piece of history hanging in a frame on his wall at home.
