Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico (left) presents a proclamation from the City of Altoona to Mirror publisher Dan Slep declaring today, June 13, 2024, Altoona Mirror Day.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Today is the day — Altoona Mirror Day in the city, as proclaimed by Mayor Matt Pacifico — in celebration of the newspaper’s 150th birthday.
Founded on this date as the Evening Mirror in 1874 by Harry E. Slep and George J. Akers, the newspaper remained family-owned for more than 100 years, and four direct descendants of the founder work at the Mirror today, including publisher Dan Slep, Harry’s great-great-grandson.
The history of the Mirror, its various iterations over the years, memories, old photographs and more can be found in a special 56-page commemorative edition inside today’s paper.
The edition was a total team effort, involving each and every department — from advertising and circulation to news, sports, the press room and everyone in between.
Articles found inside include how reporting has changed — from feet on the street to keeping an eye on social media, from typing up stories on manual typewriters, to electric versions and today’s computers and cellphones.
The commemorative edition includes information on how the paper is printed with the Mirror’s bright orange,
computer-driven Goss press churning out the paper versus type set by hand, slathered with ink and pressed onto sheets of paper.
For weeks, reporters have been combing through 150 years’ worth of newspapers, seeking out some of the most important local, state, national, international and sporting news of the day to include in the special edition.
The look into the past was eye-opening for some of the Mirror’s younger reporters, while seasoned scribes met their younger selves in the pages of the Mirror archives. They also came across ghosts from the past, names of former coworkers and bylined stories they admit they sometimes didn’t remember.
Narrowing down what to include in the special section was a monumental task, as reading through old editions from the 1800s and early 1900s was fascinating, and many a reporter went down the proverbial “rabbit hole” while doing research.
On more than one occasion, articles — or in some cases the gossip columns — would have reporters reading aloud to the newsroom at large about a news event or simply someone visiting relatives in the country, or country relatives spending time in the city.
Birth announcements were something to be celebrated, without fear and privacy issues, and the deaths of loved ones included information about illnesses and hospital stays.
Most newspapers today have moved away from that type of community reporting, but to read the events and happenings from those years makes one feel nostalgic for a bygone era.
It appears few residents were worried about their home being ransacked while they were away, as they openly shared family members’ names, who traveled where and what they enjoyed during the trip.
As the years slipped by, the writing style changed from poetic prose to no-nonsense reporting — just the facts, please.
With major strides in photography, along with the ability to reproduce the photos clearly on newsprint, the endless black and white type was broken up by art.
The line drawings of the past — showcasing ladies fashions and more in advertising blocks — remain in the archives as a tribute to the abilities of many an unsung artist.
Certain themes, or stories, seem to reappear every year in the Mirror pages, including water and sewer issues, flooding, fires and accidents, train derailments, massive storms and, from advertisements, new cars, furniture and appliances.
Crime, too, was a constant, with murders, thefts and more being recorded.
Mirror staffers were tasked for this special edition to do the nearly impossible — narrow down 150 years worth of information into easily digestible nuggets of information about the most important news that affected our readers.
As reporters, we think it’s all important — from wars and school board meetings, tax increases and water line replacements to local race track winners and ball games.
It’s all newsworthy.
Today’s commemorative edition skims, at best, the 150 years of the Altoona Mirror, a newspaper dedicated to community journalism.
As we look back, so too, do we look forward and pledge to tell the stories that matter to our readers, to share the good in life, while also recording the troubles of our times.
Newspapers — and reporters — have been and remain witnesses and the keepers of history. While many of us realize we won’t be here for the 200th anniversary of the Altoona Mirror, we know we will live on in the archives of a publication that is near and dear to so many.
Holly Claycomb is the Mirror news editor.