December 3, 2023

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

December 3, 2023

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

     Newspapers are – were – inimitable in our existence for my father and grandfather and seemingly the world, from donut-dunkers on diner stools to Gotham subway straphangers to the lady at home in her tidy kitchen, apron still in place after clean-up, now to settle at table and read the paper, page by page.

     Before the digital world replaced ink-impressioned newsprint with Internet and smartphone word bits, papers delivered the news, entertainment and sports and a whole world of local, national and international photography, with enough depth and interest to encourage a deeper look at events and politics and thought.

     My blue-collar grandfather spent every night after supper poring over The Journal-American and the World Telegram & Sun out of NYC. In the morning before work, the Daily News would fill him in on more gritty happenings, tabloid style.

     You could not ride the subways as commuters rushed home evenings without a sea of heads buried in newsprint. Some would leave the paper for the next rider.

     An entire style of reading a paper was once evident – from the person who licked fingertips  to turn a page easily to the one who folded a tabloid to pore over a column on the left or folded in half when he or she looked at a standard-size newspaper.

     All in a day’s life, those old sheets, at the end good for wrapping fish or lining the kitty’s litter box. No worry since a fresh edition would end up on your doorstep the next morning or afternoon or make its headline appearance at the newsstand. We were informed, were we not?

     The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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