Old News of the Day–May 20-23

Last month, the staff of the NJ Digital Newspaper Office wrote about the U.S. census in NJ’s historical newspapers. With census on our minds, we couldn’t help but notice this headline from the May 21, 1914 Bridgeton Pioneer. We hope the bird count was plentiful.

Headline that reads "A Bird Census This Summer" followed by "Are Existing Laws Increasing or Diminishing Numbers" "It Will Answer Questions" and "Department of Agriculture, Asking Cooperation of Bird Lovers Throughout the United States, Makes Announcement of Information Desired and How to Obtain It.

According to the May 20, 1917 Perth Amboy Evening News, bird watching isn’t the only summer activity. If you’d rather be playing music, you can be the proud owner of a summer piano.

Advertisement for "The Beautiful Emerson Angelus" "The Delightful Summer Piano that Everybody Can Play" and features a woman playing an upright piano, with a man standing next to her.

The May 23, 1908 Star and Newark Advertiser envisioned the citizens of East Orange, NJ trying to navigate a new reality where blue laws were in effect. This world featured a “milk only” menu and a not-quite-underground ice cream parlor.

Two images from an editorial cartoon. One features a man at a restaurant with a menu consisting of milk and the water asking him what he'd like with his milk. The Second Image, entitled "Evading the Law" shows a man and woman going into the side door of an ice cream parlor with a police officer in pursuit.

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