Gary Lloyd
I have added 56 apps to my iPhone — yes, I counted — but these days I find myself scrolling Facebook news feeds less before bed, drafting fantasy football teams infrequently and daydreaming through fewer Montana acreages on the Realtor.com app.
The reason couldn’t be more confusing in 2023. That reason? Newspapers.
No, really.
I purchased a Newspapers.com subscription in February to research old articles for a book I’m working on. I planned on downloading as many applicable PDFs of 1938 stories as possible within my six-month subscription timeframe and not renewing it in August. Instead, I’ve let it renew and found myself falling into a daily black hole of black ink.
Why? Because I’ve learned so darn much. I believe it’s made history and local news “cool” for those who follow me on social media. Here are some highlights.
I’ve learned that Queenstown Lake in Trussville was, a hundred years ago, a weekend getaway destination for Birmingham folks, a place where the biggest fish in the county were caught using live minnows. I’ve learned that, on the other end of Trussville, there was once a plan to call 4,000 acres of land Mason-Dixon City, with 300 of those acres sold to Motion Pictures Interests to house studios and shoot films. Those grandiose plans were featured in full-page newspaper advertisements, but it was 1928 and the impending Great Depression devastated Mason-Dixon City before it really got started. The land office was the only building constructed, and it later became a tavern.
I’ve learned that in 1935 a state representative from Trussville introduced a bill in the Alabama Legislature to prevent what he called “nudist camps.” The legislator called himself “old-fashioned” and said, “I don’t like these bathing suits that cut the corners.”
I’ve learned that the city of Remlap got its name in the pettiest way. Two brothers, whose family owned a garage and general store in the 1930s, feuded over the naming of a town that one of the brothers moved to. Since Palmer — now Palmerdale — had already been chosen as the name of the family’s town, the brother who settled six miles from there simply spelled the family name backward. Remlap was born.
I’ve learned that in response to the fire that engulfed the former elementary school in Trussville in May 1973, one idea to raise funds to rebuild the school was to have students write letters to celebrities and request a gift to be auctioned off. Letters were written to Carol Burnett, John Wayne, Johnny Cash, Bear Bryant and Bob Hope, among others.
I’ve learned more than I ever thought I could about the history of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, most recently that the late Jimmy Buffett flew here in the early 1990s for a role in the movie “Cobb,” in which he played a pesky fan that Ty Cobb punches in the face.
Research on Buffett felt timely and apropos, specifically the song “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” one of my favorites. There is a thirst for adventure in the lyrics. There is an obvious pride in legacy and inspiration from heritage.
I suppose that’s what the Newspapers.com subscription has been for me. It’s not a boat that sails far into the blue, and it certainly isn’t an adult beverage on the rocks from Margaritaville, but it is a deep dive into a heritage that feels important.
Gary Lloyd is the author of six books and a contributing writer to the Cahaba Sun.
