FA: Facsimile SHREVEPORT COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY

Facsimile SHREVEPORT COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY

Facsimile Reprint of the 1875 SHREVEPORT COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY. Shreveport,
LA; Times Publishing Company, 1975. 83 pages, ads throughout.

"Old city directories are valuable sources of historical information, and so
it was a priceless gift not only to the newspaper but to the community when
Mrs. Donald C. Dickson of Shreveport presented The Shreveport Times a copy
of the Shreveport Commercial Directory for 1875.

"It is the only known copy of the oldest available directory for Shreveport.
The earliest one at the Shreve Memorial Library, which probably has the most
complete collection of Shreveport directories, is for 1882.

"Naturally- since it is a commercial directory- the accent is on commerce
and industry, with a listing of business addresses ("A complete list of
every person engaged in commercial, mechanical and professional pursuits,"
according to an ad that appeared in The Shreveport Times prior to the book's
publication). However, it also contains much other information, including
brief histories of Shreveport and The Times.

"Reflective of the period, the directory discusses railroads, banking (the
city badly needed a national bank) and the future of steamboats, which were
still plying Red River. What would happen to steamboating when the iron
horse was going full steam was an unanswered question in 1875, and
speculation about that is among the directory's topics that seem oddly
quaint now- although proposed navigation on Red River would be a timely
topic.

"Happily, the directory reflects an overriding spirit of optimism, the kind
of optimism that has been a key to the American success story. This is one
of the things that makes the 1875 Shreveport directory an appropriate way
for The Shreveport Times to launch its Bicentennial observance and to say
Godspeed for the next two hundred years."

Stiff wraps. Approximately 8" tall by 5 1/2". The wraps are slightly
age-darkened and soiled. The pages are uniformly, but not severely,
age-darkened.
starting bid: $15.00
http://tinyurl.com/owy5


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Don and Meg Jernigan
The Ink Company
5930 Dillingham Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71106
Phone: 318-773-2153
FAX: 253-369-5197
http://www.inkcobooks.com
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