Cache of Historic Newspapers Unveils the Mysteries of Old New Orleans
Collectors Weekly - Whether you’re into comic books, antique jewelry, or vintage motorcycles, it typically takes a lifetime to build an admirable collection, years spent scouring flea markets, garage sales, and auction houses for each new addition. But for Joseph Makkos, a writer with a passion for antiquated printing techniques, his prized collection appeared all at once—in the form of a Craigslist ad offering thousands of historic New Orleans newspapers. For free.
When Makkos first inquired about the collection in 2013, he found a room filled floor to ceiling with boxes, each stuffed with newspapers in protective tubing. “I walked down one row of boxes, counted horizontally and vertically, and did the math,” says Makkos. “Each row had at least a thousand boxes, so it was around about 30,000 newspaper tubes.” The earliest papers dated back to the 1880s, and the full collection included issues of “The Daily Picayune,” “The Times-Democrat,” and “The Times-Picayune,” which was created when the previous two papers merged in 1914. As a whole, the collection offers an amazingly detailed view of the city’s storied past—its politics, food, sporting events, local businesses, architecture, tragedies, and celebrations.
Makkos had actually noticed a listing for the lot a few months prior, when the papers were being sold for $10 each, but because of minimal interest and an urgent need to clear the building they were stored in, the entire archive was now free. Free, at least, if the mysteriously unidentified seller could find a suitable new owner who would ensure the newspapers would be well taken care of. Makkos accepted the challenge and had his 30,000 newspapers out by the following Sunday.
