History
By Dr. Everett L. Parker
The year 2009 was the 60th anniversary of the beginning of locally produced weekly newspapers serving the Moosehead region and Greenville Maine. While daily newspapers have served the area much longer, a total of four weekly papers, often called the backbone of local news, have served the area during those 60 years.
Over the decades, The Moosehead Gazette, the Spectator, the Greenville Calendar and the Moosehead Messenger have been the voice and publications of record for the region. Each has made its contributions to the history of the area, and each has been unique in its own way.
Did You Hear About The Messenger?
A tremendous amount of work is required in creating, printing, and distributing a weekly newspaper, particularly in a remote area. During the 1960s and early 1970s, printing technology was undergoing an evolution from the “hot lead” era of Linotype machines to computers. The Moosehead Messenger made that transition, but the typesetting change was first to a “justifiable typewriter.” This was long before the days of digital cameras and computers. Each article had to be typed on a typewriter keyboard, and the machine would create columns with flush or even margins on both the left and right sides; hence, “justified.” Layout was still done by paste-up, with each news item typed, trimmed, and glued to large sheets of paper called “makeup boards.” Photographs were developed from film, printed, then transferred to “half tones” by the printer and glued to the makeup boards. Occasionally the wrong photographic half tone would be placed on a page by the printer.
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