Season’s Greetings, Everybody!
When Susie and I bought the old newspaper building at 700 Kihekah (built in 1925), originals of newspapers going back to the 1910's were abandoned to us. We are keeping them safe, and the publication, below, may be in those archived stacks. Not sure, though, that it is because they are too fragile to just flip through ... and there are a lot of them. But I did pull the images below from the Gateway to Oklahoma History https://gateway.okhistory.org/. These images are of the annual "Christmas" publication (a 12-pager) for the weekly Osage Journal published in Pawhuska 110 years ago on Thursday, December 19, 1912.
On the front page is of course a big image of Santa Claus carrying a stuffed sack of toys and books! The front page news of the week is that the city commissioners formed a new fire department, the first since the formation of the town in 1907. Cleveland High School defeated Pawhuska in a "basket ball" game played on a court "in the old carpenter shop north of McLaughlin & Farrar's". W.T. Leahy was selected to be a delegate to attend a convention in Stillwater for the purpose of electing new members for the state board of agriculture.
Take a few minutes to peruse the back pages. See the advertisement for "Constantine's Bakery & Confectionary" (p. 5). There's a "Report of the Condition of The Bank of Bigheart" (p. 5). Bigheart? That's what you today know as Barnsdall. Plenty of lawyers' ads already with a few familiar names, even now, like Worten and (again) Leahy. There's an ad for the Osage Merc. Co. (p. 6). No advertisements referring to the Triangle Building ... because it's not yet constructed! A lot of the ads don't have street addresses but there are some with 3 digit phone numbers. What strikes me is how "cosmopolitan" the advertisements look.
I don't see any automobile dealerships advertising as being in Pawhuska yet but there is a Ford agency in Avant (p. 3). And there is an ad for saddles, harnesses, and vehicles (p. 11). Midland Valley Railroad is providing daily transport to Tulsa, Arkansas City, and even a one night's ride to Colorado (p. 8). Hey, who wouldn't want that even today? Or how about being able to purchase a tailored suit in Pawhuska (p. 12)? P. J. Monk offers his services as "Druggist, Jeweler and Optician" (p. 11). Now that's a one-stop shop!
The price per barrel of oil is 80 cents (p. 12). There's a notice of "Settlement of Final Accounts for the Estate of James Bigheart, deceased" (p. 12). Mmmm. Remind you of anything? And check out the interesting court proceedings beginning at the top of page 4. Looks like the imposing Osage County Courthouse was already being built up on the hill, too, above downtown Pawhuska.
This is our "Christmas Card" to you this year. It is for you to keep in silence or apart. It is yours to share with another the feelings it may evoke, perhaps of days once lived by your ancestors in these parts or others.
Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Steve & Susie Holcombe
