This ad for Medford rum appeared in the first edition of the Globe on March 4, 1872.

The March 4, 1872 issue of the Globe was only eight pages long but was packed with local news, dispatches from overseas, and advertisements for things like Turkish baths, Medford rum, and Burnett’s Cocoaine.

A convention for fat men, an “odd freak” near Horticultural Hall, and an 80-year-old ear of corn were among the many outlandish topics that were covered in the very first edition of The Boston Daily Globe that rolled off the presses 148 years ago today.

This was the front page of the first edition of The Boston Daily Globe, which was published on March 4, 1872.

Several ads appeared on the front page, including one for Walker’s Private Dancing Academy, which offered “lessons in plain and fancy dancing at all hours," and upcoming shows at the Howard Athenæum, which featured a lineup of “new artists!” and “funny things!” including the acrobatic Walhalla Brothers, a Spanish tight rope artist, a comic elephant, and performances by ”THE ZIG ZAGS!" and “THE ESCAPED LUNATICS!"


Advertisements for the Boston Athenæum, Walker's Private Dancing Academy, and the Howard Athenæum appeared on the front page of the Globe on March 4, 1872. Boston Globe archive/Newspapers.com

The first issue of the Globe contained lots of odd little news items, such as this strange tale about a decades-old piece of corn:

“The editor of the New Bedford Standard has seen an ear of red and yellow striped corn 80 years old. It is an heirloom in the family, having been the pretext for kissing at a husking party, which may have led to marriage in the olden time.”

There was also a notice about an upcoming convention for “fat men” in Western Massachusetts:

“Hampshire county’s fat men will hold a convention, in imitation of some of their class in Connecticut and other states. One hundred and eighty pounds is the minimum standard for membership. The 9th is the day set for the great affair, which is to take place at Ware.”

The Globe also published several dispatches from overseas correspondents, one of whom sounded rather despondent. The correspondent reporting on Arabia was based in Aden, a port city that is located in what is now called Yemen.


“The only pleasure I find in residing here, in this parched and barren seaport town, is derived from the receipt and dispatch of letters," the correspondent wrote. “Consequently, because I am nearly roasted by the desert winds, and am homesick and lonesome, you get a letter from this most unproductive and out-of-the-way portion of the earth.”

Another international news item focused on Japanese jugglers. “The jugglers of this strange eastern country have always been known to surpass all western performers in the line of prestidigitation,” proclaimed the writer, who went on to describe one particularly impressive stunt:

“The performer took an ordinary peg top, and set it to spinning in the air, and catching it on his hand, he transferred it to the keen edge of a sword, making it traverse from hilt to point and back again by inclining the sword, the top spinning all the while.”

In addition to random tidbits and trivia, there were also local news items, such as this story about an “odd freak” that caught the attention of several passerby.

“AN ODD FREAK — A man was observed yesterday, just as the forenoon church service was over, boisterously haranguing a letter box on the corner of Horticultural Hall, and in profane language finding fault because his latch key would not open it. A crowd collected for a few moments, but the eccentric individual was coaxed away by an acquaintance, who came along. For bewildering people, gin and sugar has a great deal to answer for.”


The first issue of the Globe also featured news about crime. One report stated how “Detective Officers Ham and Wood have arrested John Donahoe, alias “Bunzo,” and Eugene McCarty, alias James Welch, who have figured very extensively in appropriating horses and teams belonging to various parties. They will be arraigned in the Municipal court today."

Another report stated: “Charles Hibbard was robbed of a silver watch in the lager beer saloon on the corner of Marshall and Union streets on Saturday evening.”

And then were was the case of Robert Caldwell, who was arrested “for snatching a gold locket from Miss Annie E. Ranney” and appeared in court. “He attempted to prove an alibi, but was identified by Miss Ranney, and, after hearing both sides, Judge Chamberlain held the defendant in $1,000 for the upper court.” Caldwell was also charged with stealing a muff from a house on Rollins Street, and was sentenced to six months in the House of Correction, which he appealed.

















Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.