Can powdered chili pepper help with arthritis? Capsaicin, the compound found in peppers that gives them zing or heat, can send signals to the brain, reducing the perception of pain. This compound can be added to creams, gels, and pain-relief patches. This interesting tidbit of information appears in an advertisement in the April 18, 1922 […]

The Twin City Review went into circulation in November 1920. The Review was originally published in Tolono, Illinois, before relocating to Champaign. The Twin City Federation of Labor published the paper “in the interest of organized labor.” At the time, Champaign County’s primary industries were higher education (the University of Illinois), railroads, and farming.  The Review frequently wrote about […]

A major software update is being implemented by our software developer Veridian that will change certain aspects of the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection website. IDNC users will notice that several features of the website are different than they were in previous versions. Many of the changes involve back-end software updates which should not directly affect […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: July 15, 2020 We left off on the last blog post just about ready to get some food into the hay stove. Let’s see what we should do to prep the food! Preparing the Food for the Hay Stove   Cereals, soups, meats, vegetables, fruits, steamed breads and even puddings […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: July 8, 2020 Are you an overworked farm wife?   Short on time but long of mouths to feed? Between weeding the garden, scrubbing and hanging out the wash to dry, visiting your sick neighbors, baking goods for the church social, repairing worn clothing, taking care of the chickens, churning […]

by Kimberly Lerch | Published: June 29, 2020     I love to do needlework; in particular, I love to do what is called “fancy work.” What is Fancy Work? Needlework encompasses all work done with the needle, whether it is necessary work or not. Darning, patching, repairing ripped seams, hemming, sewing buttons back on […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: June 19, 2020 October of 1918, the fifth week.[1] Last week read like an endless list of friends, neighbors, and loved ones in the area dying from this damned flu. We (I say we because, after a month of reading about these folks, I feel I know them) are told […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: June 18, 2020 October of 1918, the fourth week.[1] At the beginning of last week, they closed the Urbana and, a day later, the Champaign public schools. The state stepped in and forced the closure of all non-essential businesses and any schools that did not have a nurse on-site. By […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: June 8, 2020 Imagine being able to sit down with the Surgeon General of the United States during the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918 and a top doctor from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during the current COVID-19 crisis at the same time and ask them a […]

by Kimberly Lerch  |  Published: June 4, 2020 As promised, I present to you not only some representative recipes taken from the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections highlighting the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables, salsify, but pictures of the dishes and opinions of those lucky enough to eat and critique them! Salsify recipes are aplenty; when I […]

Since the rise of the internet a common joke has always been that the internet is meant for cat gifs. Be it your cousin’s boyfriend posting incessantly about their cat’s every movement or the trending page on YouTube, it is often hard to get away from cute stories about cats. This apparently has long been […]

Nothing screams the holidays quite like fruitcake. Honestly, these cookies are good enough that I would happily make them at any time of the year.   Spicy Holiday Fruit Cookies Source: December 3, 1960- Lancaster Farming Recipe: 1 cup shortening 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 eggs ½ cup rolled oats 3 ½ cups sifted […]

Are you a fan of super chewy cookies? If, so you may be interested in these Christmas cane cookies! I can’t say that I quite understand the association between the Holidays and these orange-ish flavored cookies, beyond the shape you can give them. Regardless, let’s jump into the recipe:   Christmas Cane Cookies Source: December […]

In the most recent adventures in trying to become a 1950’s housewife, I decided to try out several holiday themed recipes from our archives. The first of which, and the subject of today’s blog post, is for pie crust and cranberry pie. Just last year I discovered a love for cranberries and this recipe may […]

The holiday rush is upon us and that means one thing, a huge uptake in baking and cooking for the ones we love. While I tend to spend a lot the year eyeing new recipes I tend to not actually test them out until the holidays. (Personally, I’m notorious for baking at two in the […]

In the 1910’s one woman made it her personal mission to bring attention to the plight of homeless people, especially homeless women. Her life story is not immediately clear and she does not seem to have any biographies written on her. Instead, her memory lives in the pages of newspapers. This is what we currently […]

It is absolutely no secret that Americans love dogs, a 2006 Gallup poll estimated that 44% of Americans owned a dog.[1] According to an article in the Atlantic Americans spent a combined $63 billion on their pets in 2016 alone.[2] This love for animals is by no means a recent phenomenon, as a series of […]

In March of 1912 a lovelorn young woman wrote into the Rock Island Argus with a problem. At 20 years old she found that her boyfriend of 2 years was starting to hint that he was interested in marriage. Overcome with doubt, she wrote a letter to Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, the Rock Island Argus’ resident advice columnist. […]

One fateful day in 1920 a grisly discovery sparked a violent riot that would shake the small mining community of West Frankfort, Illinois. On August 5th several hunters were trapesing through the woods searching for squirrels. Instead, they of finding the charming rodents they had been hoping for, they stumbled across a crime scene. There, […]

Welcome to the new and improved Illinois Newspaper Project Website! Starting in 1987, this project is aimed at identifying, preserving, cataloging, and digitizing Illinois newspapers. All newspapers that are digitized are housed on our Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection which can be accessed here.  To see where specific newspapers are held you can search by city […]

But First:  The Recipe Three Squares unsweetened chocolate cut in pieces Two and one-half cups milk One and one-third cups sugar One-half cup corn starch One-half teaspoon salt Two tablespoons butter or margarine Three eggs One teaspoon vanilla One baked pie shell Add chocolate to milk and heat in double boiler. When melted beat with […]