PAPERBOYS - Historical Albion Michigan

We continue with our theme this month entitled “Growing up in Albion.” Albion once had a multitude of newspapers that were delivered here, as that was a major medium of communication for our residents. Alfred J. Marble and later Oscar D’Haem operated a newspaper agency in the basement of 300 S. Superior St. for many years and carried several titles. The Battle Creek Enquirer once had an office at 112 W. Cass St. Of course the main paper in town was the Albion Evening Recorder at 111 W. Center St.

Newspapers were delivered daily by paperboys who each had routes all over town. Some of the papers being delivered here were: Jackson Citizen Patriot, Battle Creek Enquirer, Detroit Times, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press; the weekly national newspaper Grit (remember that?), and even the Jackson Blazer from the front doors of local grocery stores.

Newspaper routes were supposed to be geographically designed for easy, fast delivery. But there was always an “Aunt Martha” who wouldn’t subscribe to the paper unless her nephew “Johnny” delivered it, even though she lived across town. So with “Aunt Martha” added to a route, her location was passed on to the next kid months later (after Johnny quit) who wondered why he had to go way across town just to deliver one paper when his other deliveries were all in one section.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a real treat. It is a December, 1953 photograph of the paperboys of the Albion Evening Recorder. How many can you recognize? Front row, left to right: Harry Gamble, Robert Holland Jr., Graham Bryce, Jon Murray, Gary Nelson. Center row: Waldo Proctor, Fred Brown, Russell Wales, Russell Day, Ronald Rice, Pat Kirby, Pearley Wilder; and Robert Keifer who delivered in Homer. Top row: James Osburn, Fred Wilder, T.J. Layne, Peter Osburn, LaVerne Everett, Robert Powell, Leslie Fainter, Jon Hettinger, Richard Jacks, and Terry Manley.

How many of our readers used to be paperboys (or papergirls--sorry, there weren’t any in this photo) for the Albion Evening Recorder when they were growing up in Albion?

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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