Christmas spirit grips 1905 Monroe County
As I've been doing on the first Thursday of the month for the past several months, I'm using my column this week to give readers a run-down on all the interesting things that were going on in Monroe County one hundred years ago.
This week let's take a look at what was happening here in Monroe County during December 1905.
The Christmas spirit was in full-effect during December 1905, prompting The Journal to publish a special, giant-sized 8-page Holiday Edition on Dec. 13, 1905. (The Journal’s 2005 special Christmas edition, published last week, was 42 pages long.)
According to "editor and proprietor" Q. Salter, "The Journal issues this week a double Holiday Edition not so much as a stroke of enterprise on the part of its publishers, but rather to meet the increased demand for advertising space by its enterprising and liberal patrons among the merchants and business men.
"The Journal is not given to boasting, but it is with pardonable pride that we mention the fact that more than 1,000 inches of local advertising is printed in this issue."
Advertisements included in this edition of the paper featured an ad for Hixon and Boulware’s store in Monroeville, which sold "toys of every description that will give unending delight to the little folks." Prices for these toys ranged from five cents up to a dollar.
At J.C. Hudson and Co.’s store in Monroeville, holiday shoppers could get "fireworks. All kinds of fireworks, the most complete line ever shown in Monroeville."
For the hunting man on your Christmas list, McCreary Bro.’s store in Monroeville offered a sale on shotguns. "We have single barrel self-ejecting shotguns that we are closing out. Get one before they are all gone. Price $2.74 each."
Not to be outdone, The Peoples Drug Co., located "On the Square" in Monroeville made a special effort to promote an item that we all take for granted today – toothbrushes. "Tooth brushes. We carry the nicest line of brushes in the city. The prophylactic, the Cader and all other brands are made." Prices for these toothbrushes ranged from 10 cents to 25 cents.
In non-holiday news, in the Dec. 13, 1905 edition of The Journal, J.A. Barnes, the secretary of the county’s board of education, gave an interesting report on the condition of the county’s schools.
According to Barnes, there were 8,676 school-age children living in Monroe County in 1905. Of that number, only 3,500 were enrolled in local schools and only 3,000 attended school regularly. The county contained 100 school houses that year, basically one for every community in the county. The school year was 90 days long in 1905, and the county employed 60 teachers. Average monthly pay for a teacher in 1905 was $27.
Barnes compared these figures to numbers from the 1899 school year and reported that there were 7,859 school-age children living in the county that year. Of that number, only 1,909 were enrolled in local schools and only 1,100 attended school regularly. The county contained 101 school houses that year and the school year was 64 days long.
Needless to say, much has changed on the education scene in Monroe County in the past 100 years. In 2005, Monroe County has 11 public schools with 4,300 students in grades K-12. The current school year is 175 days long. The county currently employs 318 certified teachers, who receive an average monthly salary of $2,609.
To close out the publishing year in 1905, Q. Salter made the following announcement under the headline ‘No Paper Next Week,’ in the Dec. 21, 1905 edition of The Journal:
"It is a custom in many newspaper offices to issue no paper during Christmas Week, thus affording the hard worked printer a brief interval of rest and recreation. While such has not been the custom of The Journal, we shall make an exception this season, omitting the regular issue next week. We do not expect, however, to waste the time in idleness or dissipation, but in filling orders for job printing and putting the office to rights for an even start with the new year."
Next month, I plan to take a look at the events of January 1906 in Monroe County. Until then, if you get the urge to research the county’s past yourself, take advantage of the Monroe County Library’s excellent selection of old newspapers on micro-film and other resources in its second-floor Genealogy and Alabama rooms. The library’s friendly and courteous staff will be more than happy to get you started.
This week let's take a look at what was happening here in Monroe County during December 1905.
The Christmas spirit was in full-effect during December 1905, prompting The Journal to publish a special, giant-sized 8-page Holiday Edition on Dec. 13, 1905. (The Journal’s 2005 special Christmas edition, published last week, was 42 pages long.)
According to "editor and proprietor" Q. Salter, "The Journal issues this week a double Holiday Edition not so much as a stroke of enterprise on the part of its publishers, but rather to meet the increased demand for advertising space by its enterprising and liberal patrons among the merchants and business men.
"The Journal is not given to boasting, but it is with pardonable pride that we mention the fact that more than 1,000 inches of local advertising is printed in this issue."
Advertisements included in this edition of the paper featured an ad for Hixon and Boulware’s store in Monroeville, which sold "toys of every description that will give unending delight to the little folks." Prices for these toys ranged from five cents up to a dollar.
At J.C. Hudson and Co.’s store in Monroeville, holiday shoppers could get "fireworks. All kinds of fireworks, the most complete line ever shown in Monroeville."
For the hunting man on your Christmas list, McCreary Bro.’s store in Monroeville offered a sale on shotguns. "We have single barrel self-ejecting shotguns that we are closing out. Get one before they are all gone. Price $2.74 each."
Not to be outdone, The Peoples Drug Co., located "On the Square" in Monroeville made a special effort to promote an item that we all take for granted today – toothbrushes. "Tooth brushes. We carry the nicest line of brushes in the city. The prophylactic, the Cader and all other brands are made." Prices for these toothbrushes ranged from 10 cents to 25 cents.
In non-holiday news, in the Dec. 13, 1905 edition of The Journal, J.A. Barnes, the secretary of the county’s board of education, gave an interesting report on the condition of the county’s schools.
According to Barnes, there were 8,676 school-age children living in Monroe County in 1905. Of that number, only 3,500 were enrolled in local schools and only 3,000 attended school regularly. The county contained 100 school houses that year, basically one for every community in the county. The school year was 90 days long in 1905, and the county employed 60 teachers. Average monthly pay for a teacher in 1905 was $27.
Barnes compared these figures to numbers from the 1899 school year and reported that there were 7,859 school-age children living in the county that year. Of that number, only 1,909 were enrolled in local schools and only 1,100 attended school regularly. The county contained 101 school houses that year and the school year was 64 days long.
Needless to say, much has changed on the education scene in Monroe County in the past 100 years. In 2005, Monroe County has 11 public schools with 4,300 students in grades K-12. The current school year is 175 days long. The county currently employs 318 certified teachers, who receive an average monthly salary of $2,609.
To close out the publishing year in 1905, Q. Salter made the following announcement under the headline ‘No Paper Next Week,’ in the Dec. 21, 1905 edition of The Journal:
"It is a custom in many newspaper offices to issue no paper during Christmas Week, thus affording the hard worked printer a brief interval of rest and recreation. While such has not been the custom of The Journal, we shall make an exception this season, omitting the regular issue next week. We do not expect, however, to waste the time in idleness or dissipation, but in filling orders for job printing and putting the office to rights for an even start with the new year."
Next month, I plan to take a look at the events of January 1906 in Monroe County. Until then, if you get the urge to research the county’s past yourself, take advantage of the Monroe County Library’s excellent selection of old newspapers on micro-film and other resources in its second-floor Genealogy and Alabama rooms. The library’s friendly and courteous staff will be more than happy to get you started.
posted by Lee Peacock at 4:07 PM
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