Historical research using old newspapers fascinates but also frustrates me. Had you read the March 5th, 1936 edition of The Cazenovia Republican you would have learned that the historic Gerrit Smith mansion in Peterboro, New York, burned to the ground two days earlier.
This was big news, deserving front page coverage. But the article telling of the great loss is on page eight accompanying an advertisement placed by Turner’s Market that offered boxes of green peas for 23 cents each and fresh ground beef at 18 cents a pound.