Collecting the Sox: Newspapers

One aspect of Red Sox collecting that can be a lot of fun is collecting newspapers. My favorite thing about collecting newspapers is that it freezes the moment in time. There’s no diluting of a memory over the years. There’s no revisionist history. You can look right at the newspaper, and see exactly what people were thinking right at the moment. It makes a great snapshot in time of great Red Sox memories. If you save the entire paper, as opposed to just the page or section, you can also place every moment into the context of history. In fact, there are any number of reasons why this is a wonderful thing to collect.

One of the great parts of newspaper collecting is the variety. There’s a newspaper account following every game. It’s also in any number of newspapers across Red Sox nation. So, the collection can be as broad, or as specific as you’d like to make it. You might want to collect every Boston Globe story of a Josh Beckett start. Or, every Boston Herald issue following a Youkilis homer. If you like great photography, you can go after newspapers with great action shots, or any coverage containing a picture of Jacoby Ellsbury. You can also focus on historic games. Maybe every newspaper possible following the 2004 world series win, or every newspaper from Vermont reporting on Jon Lester’s no-hitter. The ability to tailor a collection to exactly what you want is a great aspect of the medium.

Cost is another important factor with newspaper collections. If you’re after current papers, you’re looking at less than $1 for each issue. If you wanted to get a newspaper account from every Jon Lester win in 2009, you’re looking at less than $20 for the season. Even earlier issues aren’t very expensive until you get quite a few years back. So, it’s a great way to enter into a collectable.

If you’re collecting newspapers going forward, there’s plenty of supply. If you want just one copy of a story about a game, there are lots of papers out there. Each newspaper prints thousands of copies. If you go out the day following a game, grabbing a paper to collect shouldn’t be a problem. Getting older papers is a little bit tougher. Since most people don’t save stacks of newspapers, tracking down a specific paper from even a couple weeks ago can be a challenge. If it’s an important paper, for instance after a World Series win, you might be able to find it on eBay. Once again though, starting a collection shouldn’t be too tough.

The only real issue with a newspaper collection comes to storage. A stack of 100 newspapers is kind of big and ugly. You also don’t want the papers fading or yellowing. That presents the age-old problem with collectables…to display or protect. The best place to store a newspaper might be in a closet, out of the light. That’s not exactly a great way to enjoy a collection though. You could frame the nicest ones, but that takes some wall space, and expense. So, it’s up to the collector to find a happy medium so they can enjoy the collection, but still have it for a long time.

Any newspaper collectors out there?