An Old Post

We get one every day, churn through it, and then add it to the recycling pile. But yesterday, while poking around an antique mall, I found an old copy of the Washington Post that just felt worth buying. On Friday, August 9, 1974, I was just a month past turning nine years old. The Presidential campaign of 1972 is really my earliest political memory, and while I don’t specifically remember the moment, I’d like to think I was aware of the big news of that day. You can read the headline online today, Nixon Resigns.

What else was going on in this 15¢ copy of the Post? Rain was predicted, with a high in the mid-80s. The Senate Banking Committee decided to delay their vote on the nomination of Alan Greenspan to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors to give newly sworn-in President Ford the “flexibility” to offer his own nomination. NFL Players were considering a strike. The TV guide took up a quarter of a page and listed seven channels. Three Dog Night was coming to play at The Capital Centre, and The Three Musketeers, Born Losers, Walking Tall and The Sting were playing in local theatres. At the Penn Theatre on Capitol Hill you could catch a double bill of Dairy of a Stewardess and Pigkeeper’s Daughter. An AM/FM stereo with built-in 8-track tape player could be had for $99 at Custom HiFi.

Somewhere in my basement, hidden under a false floor created when the basement was finished, is a copy of the Washington Post from the morning after Election Day, proclaiming Bill Clinton’s presidential victory. It it’s ever discovered, and assuming it’s held up over time, perhaps it will sell for a few bucks at a flea market in 2025. A much happier political memory, it should be worth something.