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Last year I found a book in a thrift store that caught my interest; in general as a student of history and specifically as a modeler of the 1920s.  The book is titled "Good Life in Hard Times: San Francisco's '20s and '30s" and is by Jerry Flamm, a native son of the city in the title.  Flamm grew up selling newspapers and later went on to work for the Chronicle as a copyboy and a reporter and staff writer for the Call Bulletin.  It is no wonder, then, that the first chapter of this fine book is titled 'Front Page Days' and recalls the ignominious history of the fierce competition and colorful tales from the major San Francisco newspapers.

Flamm's writing is excellent; his stories, gathered from veterans of the era, colorful and interesting.  Though I model a small town in central Florida, the reliance of the public on the paper for their news transcends the geographic location.  Radio was in its infancy, television was unheard of.  If you needed to know the score or the stock price or the sales in the stores, you looked in the paper.  A small town rag might cost a penny.  In the big city by the bay, two cents or even three would get you the news. 

So inspired by the tales of plucky newsboys on the street corners and brash reporters and photographers, I began to wonder how I might capture some of this spirit in 1:87 scale.  Naturally I thought of figures.  I had recently purchased a set of Preiser figures on eBay and they included a newsboy and a man in a suit reading a paper.  Mine came in a large set of figures from the 1920s, all unpainted, but I don't believe that set is available anymore.  However, the two figures pictured below are still available in the set #12133, "On the Platform, 1900-1925 (am Bahnsteig)" though you'll likely pay as much for the 6 painted figures in that tiny box as I did for the 40+ unpainted figures I found.

Note the stands I made, allowing me to prime the figures then hold them for painting.  The corks are epoxied onto washers, and the figures are stuck there with crafter's stick-on glue dots.  

While I was able to find figures for this side of the equation, the sales and consumption of the news, I have yet to find acceptable figures for the other side, the reporting and photographing of the news.  There are photographers out there but they look more suited for the 1960s at the earliest.  I have seen no reporters wearing caps and holding note pads, but plenty of folks holding microphones standing in front of cameras, both on tripods and shoulders.  It would be nice to get such figures to pose at the scene of an accident or some other event, or as they often would be, waiting outside a police station or courthouse to get the scoop.

There are several more chapters in Flamm's book, and I hope they will provide me with as much inspiration and general background knowledge as this first one has.  Up next is all about radio, and there are subsequent chapters on dining, sports, swimming, and of course the Southern Pacific's ferry operations across the bay, and more.  It is highly likely I'll mention this book again on this blog.