![]() ![]() Lamade interested new subscribers with contests and drawings. He knew that he would have to improve the newspaper’s circulation (then about 4,000) if the paper were to survive. The newspaper owed more than it was worth and seven business partners came and went. The first year of “Grit” was one of adversity and uncertainty. Lamade gambled, and with two partners and a combined investment, bought the name “Grit” from the “Sun and Banner” to use for his new publication. He later recalled this as the first time he envisioned the opportunity of his life. Now 25 and unemployed, Lamade had a wife and two children to support. Its owner, however, lacked the money to continue. There he typeset the first head for “Grit.” Two years later, he left the “Sun and Banner” to help revive “The Times,” a weekly publication that was scheduled to become a daily. In 1882, Lamade went to work for the “Daily Sun and Banner” as its advertising compositor and assistant composing room foreman. At the age of 13, Lamade began working in the office of “Beobachter,” a local German-language publication. At the age of 10, Dietrick Lamade, along with his older brothers and sister, quit school to support the family and worked as an errand boy for several years. The day after his funeral, his widow bore their ninth child. 1, 1869, Johannes Lamade died from typhoid fever. His family moved to Williamsport where, on Jan. Lamade was born in Gehlhausen, Germany, one of nine children of Johannes and Caroline Lamade. A typical “Horatio Alger-type,” he sought and found opportunity in the creation of one of the miracles of modern publishing. It was a short-lived venture, however, and in less than two years, Dietrick Lamade bought the enterprise. The newspaper’s origins were as a Saturday edition of the “Daily Sun and Banner” published in 1882 in Williamsport. Many of its stories and photographs are endearing and touching portraits that have chronicled the region’s progress and misfortune. ![]() In addition to the national Sunday edition, “Grit” also recorded local timely events and celebrated family and community through good times and bad. Many look back with satisfaction on the experience when, as young entrepreneurs, they knocked on the doors of small-town homes and were welcomed with a smile and a dime for a weekly edition of homespun good news. One million children have sold “Grit,” some for a few weeks, some for several years. ![]() Reminisce with beloved features like Odd, Strange and Curious, Aunt Beth’s Chat, the Golden Rule Club and Do You Remember?įor more than 100 years, the weekly newspaper delivered news, features, fiction, coupons, and comics to families across the nation. Readers of “Sunday Grit” will enjoy the dozens of newly discovered photographs that form a virtual tour of the company and its employees during the early 1900s, as well as local news stories, advertisements, and interesting features. Grit publisher Bryan Welch returned the photographs to Williamsport for the Sun-Gazette to curate and incorporate into its current collection. Although Grit still exists and is published by Ogden, the glossy magazine targets a rural audience. Van Auken traveled to Grit headquarters in Topeka, KS, and acquired hundreds of historic photographs and memorabilia that were saved when the newspaper sold. Richly illustrated, the new 136-page book features nearly 200 images, many never seen before. ![]() Written by author Robin Van Auken and published by Ogden Newspapers, the parent company of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, “Sunday Grit: A Newspaper Legacy” is the fourth volume in a limited edition, commemorative series about area newspapers. Make room on the shelf for another book about local history. ![]()
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