Steve Stark

Today we take another look at the typical newspaper content years past. On this date in 1943, the Fargo Forum carried a full-page ad from Osco Drug headlined “Make up your back-to-school shopping list!” It touted lead pencils with rubber erasers on sale for a penny each. A composition book was priced at four cents, sixty sheets of typing paper just seven cents, and a package of Crayola crayons were only eight cents a package.

By September 1943, residents in the Red River Valley and across North Dakota had become accustomed to their lives during wartime. The Fargo Forum newspaper featured a daily reminder of the costs of WWII battles as well as activities on and off the war front.

In the summer of 1910, former president Theodore Roosevelt was still making headlines in the Fargo Forum and Daily Republican newspaper. Roosevelt had been on page one in June as the paper recorded his interaction with passengers at sea off the coast of Ireland as he began his return after a triumphal tour of Europe.

This week in 1974 brought a sudden change in Vice President Gerald Ford’s schedule when he abruptly cancelled a 12-day political excursion. The reason soon became apparent. The news leaked out, and a three-inch-high headline on the front page of The Fargo Forum screamed “Nixon to Quit!”

The introduction of television in the fifties changed the way Americans spent time in their homes. While TV entertainment was a leap forward from the earlier fascination of radio, viewers were often familiar with personalities who had been successful on radio, or even earlier in vaudeville acts.

This week in 1915, the paper’s “Northwest Gleanings” section chronicled events from around the state. One of Fargo’s early newspapers was the Fargo Daily Courier-News. In the upper left-hand corner of the paper, it touted Fargo as “The Gate City of North Dakota.”

June 6, 1944 is singular for the most memorable and significant event in the heritage of nations. In United States and world history, the day will always be known as D-Day.

The usually calm meeting of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, held this week in 2000, turned into a dangerous and potentially violent row. Earl Pomeroy, the Representative from North Dakota, was one of the participants. As the committee was holding a hearing about trade relations with China, the event was suddenly interrupted by an angry and violent member of the audience.

On this date in 1910, the News of the North section of the Fargo Forum included another example of community cooperation. “Neighbors Put in Widow’s Crop,” the headline began, followed by “Kindhearted North Dakotans Come to Rescue of Unfortunate Woman.” It was a story out of Goodrich, North Dakota, where neighbors came to help Mrs. L. Anderson.

This week in 1910 was a typical day for readers of the Fargo Forum and the Daily Republican.