Author Archives: teacherpatti

The Ann Arbor News did me a huge favor today by publishing an article about my book, Images of America: Downtown Ann Arbor. The article can be found here. There are some lovely pictures of then & now, including some … Continue reading →

Unless you’ve been walking around with a space heater attached to your head, you know it’s been really really really cold. I boogered around in the Old News archive to see how our friends in the 1800s dealt with the … Continue reading →

Okay, not everyone. I get that. But in 1878, a New York newspaper was showing us some love in the form of a series of illustrations of our young city. The New York Daily Graphic was the first tabloid to … Continue reading →

Our beloved Michigan Theater had a special presentation yesterday: Charlie Chaplin short films! Yay! I have to admit that I was not always the huge silent movie fan that I am today; in fact, silent movies used to sort of … Continue reading →

These days, we can predict snowstorms almost down to the minute. Various sources told me that yesterday’s snowstorm would start out slow until about noon or so (yep), and then it would pick up (YEP!) and that we would end … Continue reading →

Things are not perfect for us now. Not by a damn shot. But the January 27, 1899 Argus-Democrat told some hair-raising tales about life for the ladies: Barbara Bader (of 702 N. Fifth Avenue, not far from my house!) was … Continue reading →

Of course, there was no Martin Luther King Day back in 1888, mainly because he didn’t exist yet. And civil or equal rights weren’t a thing that newspapers really talked much about (not that I’ve seen yet, anyway). But a … Continue reading →

Well! Things have changed in Michigan, that’s for sure. The January 13, 1893 Argus had a little article about what our friends in Lansing were up to: Representative Mills was on the committee for the Michigan Institute for the Deaf … Continue reading →

I happened to click on the link for the January 7, 1885 Courier and learned that the Chicago Inter Ocean (a newspaper published in Chicago from 1865-1914) sent an agent to our fine city to report on the advantages of … Continue reading →

Nowadays, we like to get irate over the state of our roads; indeed, the roads are in disrepair and are often quite dangerous. Back in the day, sidewalks were the issue. According to the Courier, people were paying $3,000-$10,000 PER … Continue reading →