Three Handwritten Spoof Newspapers by Keyport, New Jersey School Boys, ca. 1910

Two complete and one partial handwritten newspapers or newsletters, each on a single sheet folded to a four-page booklet measuring 6" x 4.5". All four pages are used in the two complete issues; in the third, only slightly more than one page is used. One is illustrated. One is headed "The Liberator" and two "The Weekly." No date or place is given, but a masthead lists the names of the boys involved, and Ancestry searches confirm they were residents of Keyport (Monmouth County), New Jersey born around 1898. Many of the short "news items" and faux advertisements poke fun (in an appropriately juvenile way) at friends and locals, others are simply jokes. Some examples: " A spring sale is being held at Salz's. Don't go elsewhere to be cheated. Come here." "For sale: A big Boston bull dog. Will east anything. Very fond of children." "Mr. Jones, Furrier, will now make ladies fur coats at low prices out of their own skins." "Mis Alice Roberts has been ill for a week or so with a sore mouth from kissing her fellow." "Scientists state that in 4 thousand years from now the earth shall have cooled off enough as to destroy all life on its surface. Order your aeroplane for removal to mars." "Walter Morris, a second Booker T. recently had a haircut which cost him fifty cents. He kept the wool as a souvenir of the performance." "Many people of this town have been sick this season. The grip had a hold on them.".…