Say the phrase “imagine life in Vicksburg a century ago” to most people, and they conjure up a pretty-as-a-postcard Washington Street full of shopping families — including children who always, always, always mind their parents.
Yet look at a paper from a century ago, and life is very much the same. It’s filed with stories of war in far away continents, local happenings, obituaries and the latest weather.
The front page of the Jan. 1, 1915, edition of The Vicksburg Evening Post has 32 stories and three photos. They detail war in Europe and Russia, a riot in the Midwest and conduct of Vicksburg residents.
One small snippet labeled “Behaving Fine” shows that maybe Vicksburg was a simpler city a century ago.
“Vicksburgers are on their good behavior in the new year. Not an arrest has been made thus far by either the police or constables.”
Perhaps everyone was on their best behavior because Police Chief R.G. Groome had outlawed fireworks “except for that part of the city lying east of Monroe St. and east of Washington St. south of Belmont St.”
Below the “Behaving Fine” brief, the Post reported that the first marriage license of the year was issued to Monroe Anderson and Viola Washington, a black couple. Now it’s complicated again. Until 1971, marriage records were divided by race. One set of books was simply labeled “marriage records” the other is labeled “marriage records, colored.” Interracial marriage was illegal.
Phones numbers and prices were certainly simpler. Want to buy coal? Phone 370, one ad proclaims. Others offer a dozen “nice apples” for a dime —that’s $2.36 in today’s money.
Some things have gotten a lot cheaper. A quarter page liquor store ad on Page 6 advertises a quart of Old Crow whiskey for $1.50. Adjusted for inflation that’s $35 today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Jan. 1 paper also featured a page full of movie theater ads and movie news. The Alamo Theater, which was at the present day site of the Nelson Cotton Building on the corner of Washington and South streets, had a large coupon for a free movie screening Jan. 2, presumably so patrons could see the newest silent comedy “Fatty’s Magic Pants,” opening that afternoon.
On Page 7, a half page story told of the hundreds of people who lined up at a showroom to see the latest in cutting-edge technology — a 35-horsepower car designed by the Dodge brothers.
Then there was something readers of The Post would never see today.
On Page 3, The Post had a full page dedicated to “The Master Key,” a serialized novel by John Fleming Wilson.