Monday, August 29, 2016

Journal-Sentinel Pulls Archives From Google


I've written extensively about my love for Google's newspaper archives. You can peruse my old posts and see how many stories were inspired by browsing through old articles. It's an invaluable research tool, putting well over a century's worth of history at our fingers.

And now, it's gone. At least where Milwaukee is concerned.

As chronicled by Michail Takach at Urban Milwaukee, the paper's parent company has had its entire archive pulled down.
“Have you ever borrowed a book, thousands of miles away?” asked those visionary AT&T ads of the 1990s. “Have you ever learned special things, from far away places? You will.”

In 1993, this was mind-blowing science fiction. By 2008, we were already there. Google News Archive launched that year with ambitious plans to scan, archive and release the world’s newspapers in a single public access database. Anyone, anywhere, would now be able to read any edition of any newspaper ever printed. It was the closest thing to time travel in human history. Historians, librarians and educators rejoiced: the future was now!

When the project abruptly ended three years later, the project had scanned over a million pages of news from over 2,000 newspapers. Although nobody is entirely sure why the project ended, Google News Archive delivered an incredible gift to Milwaukee: free digital access to more than a century’s worth of local newspapers.

This wasn’t just a revelation; it was a revolution. Aligning perfectly with the rise of social media, Google News Archive content inspired Facebook groups, Twitter feeds, Pinterest boards, and more. By removing barriers to historical content, Google didn’t just trigger a passing interest in local history. Google triggered a groundswell of historical discovery, engagement and pride.

That was then. This is now: on Tuesday, August 16, the Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Sentinel, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel listings vanished from the Google News Archive home page. This change came without any advance warning and still has no official explanation.

As a researcher and author, I relied heavily on Google News Archive to uncover the hidden history of LGBTQ Milwaukee for my recent book on that subject. For years, I’ve bookmarked thousands of articles and images for further exploration at a later date. In one lightning bolt moment, all of my Google News Archive bookmarks went from treasure to trash. There will be no later date. There will be no further exploration.

Google’s response to inquiries was chilling: “Google News Archive no longer has permission to display this content.” The response from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel employee was even more chilling: “We have contracted with a new vendor (Newsbank.) It is unclear when or if the public will have access to the full inventory that was formerly available on Google News Archive.”

That’s right. If.

Google spent considerable time and money to digitize our history as a cultural contribution. As a for-profit company, Newsbank will essentially privatize these public resources through a paid subscription service. Unfortunately, our community champions for historical preservation – libraries, universities, museums, historical societies – are unlikely to pay the steep ransom price that would restore free public access. Will anyone?

Until someone pays up, local history might just be held hostage.
This is sobering development for all of us. It will severely hurt my own research, as it will anyone who loves Milwaukee and her history.

I'm interested to see what Newsbank has in mind for the archives, and sick at heart thinking how many stories may be lost because of a desire to lock those pages away.

Friday, August 26, 2016

1940s T-shirt Now Available at Ebbets Field Flannels

I was so excited to see that Ebbets Field Flannels had unveiled its 1938 cap with distinctive red piping, that I missed their introduction of another treasure celebrating Milwaukee's baseball past.

Check out this gorgeous t-shirt:

MILWAUKEE BREWERS (AA) 1944 T-SHIRT

$30.00 $24.00

American Association

History: The American Association Brewers started play in 1903, with the colorfully-named Jiggs Donahue leading the league in hitting. The club maintained a rabid fan base for half a century, until they were supplanted by the Boston Braves, who became the first MLB franchise in modern history to relocate. The Brewers name was revived in 1970 when the bankrupt Seattle Pilots moved to the Cream City.

ITEM: MIL44T

Product details
  • 100% Cotton
  • Pre-Shrunk
  • Reactive Dye Blue Shirt
  • Enzyme Wash for Softness
  • Discharge Waterbased Printing
  • Made in the USA
If the graphic looks familiar, it should. It comes from the club's 1942 score card. An early incarnation of team mascot "Owgust" sprints towards home:


It's a gorgeous image, and I'm so glad that Ebbets Field Flannels is using this version of Owgust (maybe they're readers?).

I'm very pleased to see the amount of Brewer merchandise currently available at EFF. Speaks well to interest in the team's legacy. Help them continue to expand their offerings: buy one or twelve t-shirts today!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Uni Watching in Brooklyn


I wrote an article for Uni Watch, posted to the site this morning. Although largely about the Brooklyn Dodgers, and modern attempts to get their logo right on contemporary merchandise, the Brewers do make a cameo appearance.

Check out the piece here—and thanks to editor Phil Hecken for giving me the opportunity!

Saturday, August 20, 2016

1938 Cap Now Available at Ebbets Field Flannels

Once again, our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels, purveyors of classic baseball clothing, have brought us a forgotten treasure from Milwaukee's baseball past.

This intriguing cap was worn by the Brewers in the late 1930s.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS (AA) 1938 VINTAGE BALLCAP

$45.00 $36.00

American Association

History: The Brewers name was first used for a Milwaukee ball club back in 1878. The American Association team began play in 1902. The Brewers played in the AA until 1952, winning the pennant in their final season. They were replaced in 1953 when the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in the first franchise shift in Major League Baseball in 50 years.

ITEM: MIL38C

Product details
  • Authentic reproduction of 1938 ballcap
  • Current Rotation
  • Navy wool broadcloth crown
  • Soft visor
  • Horse hair buckram crown
  • Satin taping
  • Felt lettering
  • Cotton sweatband
  • Green satin under visor
All Ebbets Field Flannels authentic ballcaps are made in the USA.
This is a great piece. I had the opportunity to talk with the folks over at EFF while the cap was in production, and am so very pleased to finally see it available. Order yours today!

Friday, August 12, 2016

Milwaukee Tavern Scorecard - Spring 1942

Today we're looking at another edition of that peculiar Milwaukee institution, the tavern score card. Distributed to watering holes all over the city, they were a combination stat sheet and sports page. This one, printed before the season began, also doubled as a schedule.


The content in black ink changed over the course of the season; compare it with this card from April 27 of that year and you can see how the red template stayed the same.

The Brewers obviously have place of pride on this tavern card, with their home and road contests listed, but as the nearest big league clubs the two Chicago teams have their home schedules included.


Note the three major league teams scheduled to play exhibition games at Borchert Field: the New York Yankees on May 19, Chicago Cubs on June 8th and Brooklyn Dodgers on July 8th.

In the absence of any up-to-date news, publisher Al Cissa gives us a quick list of all the managers all around the American Association:


Charlie Grimm gets a shout-out; this was his first full year in charge with his co-owner Bill Veeck.

We also get a quick breakdown of the opening days for each club:


I love these cards as a window into the past. I wonder how they were used; extant samples indicate that many of them were folded and carried around, but I wonder if the taverns themselves ever used them as placemats? Were they hung on walls? Or were they as ephemeral as newspapers, read a couple times and casually tossed aside?

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Seeing Yellow, Part II

Today's Uni Watch includes this wonderful 1938 photo from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, colorized by Baseball by Bsmile:


Readers may remember that we've talked about this before, although although we didn't have this particular picture; there have been many attempts to improve visibility by coloring the baseball, the first of which was held at our very own Borchert Field. On August 29, 1928, the New York Times reported on an event which took place the previous day:

American Association Tries Yellow Baseball in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 28 (AP)–For what is believed to be the first time in a professional game, a yellow baseball was experimented with here today in the second game of a double-header between Milwaukee and Louisville. President T. J. Hickey of the American Association was here to see the result. The new balls are said to have greater visibility than white ones, particularly with a bleacher background of white shirts. They are not easily discolored. Further experiments will be made and if successful the ball will be officially adopted for 1929.
Those experiments never went anywhere, and a decade later the Brooklyn Dodgers tried again with no greater success.

Thanks to Bsmile, we have a little better idea of what that ball might have looked like in action.