Liberty Magazine, 1926

Earlier this month, the Franklin Township Historical Society received a donation of antique books and magazines from board member Ben Schuman. One of these was an issue of Liberty magazine from May, 1926.  You can view this and other magazines at the Meeting House, but here are some highlights!

Magazines in the early 20th century were a major media source for both news and entertainment.  In 1926, radio broadcasting had only been in use for five or six years and was not yet ubiquitous, and the mysterious new technology known as "television" was still in development (the first experimental cathode ray tube was introduced about six months after this issue was published, but most Americans would not discover in-home television until after World War II).  Magazines were large-format periodicals packed with articles, illustrations, news and fictional stories.

Like modern magazines, periodicals relied heavily on advertising for revenue, and often sold full-page ads inside the front and back covers. This issue of Liberty features a full-page ad (at right) for a familiar product -- Lysol -- which was originally marketed for a very different use than the household cleaning products we know.

Magazines also regularly featured serialized fiction, poetry and short stories. This suspense novella, Flying Death (at left) is very typical of the era.  Before television or multiplex cinemas, reading fiction was one of the primary forms of entertainment, and escapist stories of romance and adventure were in particularly high demand.  Many famous authors such as Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Johnston McCulley, Dashiell Hammett and Leslie Charteris established their writing careers by having their stories serialized in popular magazines.

As we head into election season, we're reminded that some things don't change at all: Editorial cartoons and political satire have been published in periodicals for hundreds of years!  Here are a few topical cartoons from 1926 (at right).


The Meeting House is open from 1 to 4PM on the first Saturday and third Sunday of each month from March through October. If you liked these photos, stop by and check out our collection of books, magazines newspapers and other vintage reading material!

WPA Outhouses: Humble But Historic

It might seem strange to write a book about outhouses -- those rustic shacks that our forebears used instead of the indoor porcelain plumbing we're used to -- but there is a lot of history in those little wooden buildings!  During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were created to provide jobs for out-of-work citizens, and one of those unglamorous jobs was building outhouses.  The Indiana Community Sanitation Program reported in January, 1943 that 125,791 “Sanitary Privies” had been built since the program began in December, 1933, providing more than $4 million dollars in WPA wages to otherwise-unemployed workers during the 1930s.

A few of these WPA constructions still remain standing in Franklin Township.  Our latest publication, Humble but Historic, The Surviving WPA Outhouses of Franklin Township, Marion County, Indiana, includes a brief history and photograph of each of the 10 remaining outhouse buildings, as well as a copy of the “Indiana Community Sanitation Program Regulation Manual, Sponsored By United States Public Health Service, Indiana Division of Public Health Works Progress Administration,” which directed the workers in building the structures and a copy of the “Maintenance Rules” to be tacked to the wall of each finished outhouse. (One of the township’s outhouses still has these rules fastened to the wall!)

The stapled book was designed and printed by Faulkenberg Printing in Indianapolis. The Society has priced it at $7.00.  You can purchase a copy in person at the Meeting House during Open Hours, or order one by mail via our website.

Fifty-Cent Books Available at Old Settlers Day - June 24

Attention, readers! Among the items to be offered at the Franklin Township Historical Society booth at Old Setters Day June 24 will be a wide variety of books available for just 50 cents each.  The hardbacks and paperbacks will both be this price, and will include mysteries, suspense, novels, non-fiction, inspirational, books on military history, photography and more.

The 50-cent book sale at the street fair has been a fundraiser for the Historical Society for a number of years, but none of this year's books were offered at previous sales; this is an entirely new assortment of used books, collected just this spring.

The Historical Society booth will also be offering yearbooks and coffee-table books, priced individually, and Society memberships will be available at just $10 / year.

The booth will be located on the north side of Southeastern Avenue, east of Dollar General and not far from the Avanti salon.