The Kaw City Newspaper appeared shortly after the small Oklahoma town was established. News didn’t travel as fast in those days. Every letter of every word had to be set in place by hand. Typesetters labored for hours getting each page ready for print. They had to figure out where the “copy” would go and what size font they needed to use. Once the stories and designs were complete, they were locked into the bed of the press which was then inked. Paper was pressed against the inked type to make the impression which became the newspaper. This photo from circa 1902 shows the typesetters and printers at work.

The Kaw City Museum has some of the city’s old newspapers on display in the Brill building. The style of news writing was quite different in the early 1900’s and it’s fun to read some of the stories. You get a genuine peek into the past, reading about the Kaw City people and all the activities they were involved in.