1931 Times brings back memories

R ichard Currier knew that he had an old copy of the Whitehall Times, but not until recently had he decided to take a closer look at it.

“I had it in my library for a while and I thought that I should dig it out and make some copies of the pages,” said Currier about his copy of the Feb. 19, 1931, edition of the Whitehall Times.

Currier said he has received a number of historical pieces and records that he has in his library.

“There have been a lot of people that have given me things about the history of Whitehall over the years,” said Currier. “I love anything that has to do with history. I think in school that was the only class I wanted to go to.”

Currier said he was intrigued by the various news items found throughout the paper, which included death notices on the front page and news from around the world.

“They covered quite a bit,” said Currier.

Currier also commented on several of the advertisements that were in the paper.

“There was a lot of advertising, and I can remember a lot of these places that are not around anymore,” said Currier.

The newspaper also showed a reflection of the times it was written in.

“Look at the prices in this paper,” he said.

Currier said there was one other ad that caught his eye, which displayed the upcoming shows at the Whitehall theater.

Currier said that looking at that ad reminded him of the way he and his friends were able to “afford” a movie ticket.

“They used to have the Saturday afternoon matinee,” said Currier. “We didn’t have a lot of money, so we would pool all of our money together and give it to one kid to get in, and there was a fire escape upstairs and that kid would go up there to open the door and let the rest of us in.”

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Tags: Closer Look, Currier, Memories, Money, News Items, Reflection, Saturday Afternoon, Whitehall