The "Oh! The Sweet Smell Of Printer's Ink: Part II - The Start Of The Press In Lancaster" Story

It was an ordinary day. Sunday, January 9, 2019 and Lancaster, Pennsylvania's newspaper has just begun a year-long celebraion of LNP's 225th Anniversary with a look back at the history of the press in the city of Lancaster.  Every Sunday during the year a newspaper cover from the past will be featured which will highlight Lancaster's story as seen in ink in the past 225 years.  The newspaper, as well as the newspaper business, has made dramatic changes over those 225 years with the press going from hand-set type and printed one at a time to automated digital from start to finish.  Even though the production side of the paper has changed dramatically over those 225 years, the value of a free and strong press to a sovereign democracy such as ours remains infinite.  At first, the newspaper business was dominated by small-town establishments which didn't last long.  

The cover of the 1795 "The Lancaster Journal.
Click to enlarge, but it may still be hard to read.

But, for Lancaster, with Ben Franklin being an investor in Lancaster's newspaper and with Francis Bailey's downtown print shop being the official printer to both the U.S. Congress as well as the State of Pennsyvania, it flourished.  The paper at first was either a single sheet of paper, printed both sides, or a four-page folio.  And, being that there was very little technology to spread the word quickly, the paper consisted of quite a bit of classified advertising, private real estate, job offerings, Sheriff sales, estate sales and homes for sale of lease.  The top portion of the paper, known as the "flag" or "masthead" has changed a few time over the years.  The first issue of Lancaster's newspaper, known as The Lancaster Journal, was founded by William Hamilton and Henry Willcocks and published it's first edition on June 18, 1794 while George Washington was in his second term as President.  

The cover of the 1799 Lancaster Journal.  This cover changed the "flag"
to Old English font.  Below I have enlarged a few clips so you can see them better.

There have been several changes during the last 225, but the mission statement of the newspaper has never faltered; "Not too rash - yet not fearful - Open to all parties, but not influenced by any."  As of the date of this story, three 1st pages have been reprinted in the paper.  The first, from 1795, shows the flag as "The Lancaster Journal in a serif-style font.  It carries the date WEDNESDAY, July 15, 1795 and is an entire three-column page with a headline of "Treaty, of AMITY, COMMERCE and NAVIGATION, between His Britannie Majesty and the United States of America, by their President, with the advice and consent of their Senate.  Now, I will tell you that I think that is what it says, since the printing is so small since the page was reproduced smaller that the original and 18th century typesetters used the "medial s" which was standard in the eighth century and standard in Britain.  The "s" letter appears as a very ornamented and italic letter "f".  It was later changed to what we envision as the letters of the alphabet.  

Here you can see the Old English letters and notice the
"s" in Lancaster looks to be a letter "f".

Even with the use of my high-power reading glass, it was hard to read.  The second 1st page was from SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1799.  The "flag" features the second version of The Lancaster Journal.  This example is very ornate and Fraktur-esque with calligraphic flourishes and is said to be the most ornate and elaborate.  

"Houses for Lease"

Some of the front-page features were a job-wanted ad for Gun-Lock Smiths, a house for lease in the first block of West King Street near the market, a Proclamation from the Sheriff, a 150 acre farm for sale and Elegant Family Bibles which sold for $10 each (that would be $205.60 by today's standards).  There were a few national and world news items, but they had happened weeks before and took some time to reach Lancaster for publication.  

Ad for a family Bible.  Cost today would be $205.60.

Eventually the printing process became more mechanized and allowed for a larger newspaper.  Eventually working for the newspaper became a profession and the newspapers became affiliated with a political party.  That happened in Lancaster when in 1866 A.J. Steinman became involved with the paper and supported the Democratic Party.  In 1909 The Lancaster Morning Journal was founded by Steinman and his nephew Charles Foltz as an independent or non-political voice for the community.  Shortly the paper became an independent, non-political voice for the community.  Eventually J.F. and J.H. Steinman, sons of A.J. Steinman treated the newspaper as a manufacturing enterprise rather than a political tool.  They strived to make the newspaper the best in "the garden spot of America."  The initiated profit-sharing between shareholders and their foundations.  As of today the Steinman Foundation has given more than $90 million to philanthropic endeavors across Lancaster County.  Tomorrow I will post a numerical guideline showing the progress that has taken place over the past 225 years.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.