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lOUil 6, l»?J PLAINO TIIE BOYS -- These were the boys of the Plaindealer plant in the early 1950's. From left are Andy and Willard Grant, Bill Moore, Irv Zilly, Dave Ayers and Lonnie Rooksby. Four Owners Newspaper Passes Sixty Years Of Publication T.iivn Ironi the, June (}. 19-55 i '< l l ' io!l l The McHenry Plaindealer has completed i ts s ixt ieth year of continuous publication with only lour changes in ownership and last week issued i ts f irst number in a new volume. When the newspaper was launched sixty years ago, McHenry was only a vil lage of a few hundred people and, al though the years which have passed have not brought unusual growth to the ci ty, i t has seen a substantial ad­ vancement and the population has grown to about 1,500 inhabitants. Launching a newspaper in a small community requires courage and vision, as well as an affection for the newspaper business, and all of these trai ts were possessed by the founder of the publication J . VanSlyke. Many t imes diff icult ies were encountered with trobules in establishing an enterprise in a new field, as well as meager officj equipment and machinery contributing dif­ f icult ies. As business in­ creased, however, the paper began to at tain standing in the vi l lage and the circulat ion increased as other nearby towns gave cordial greeting to the newly founded weekly. The Plaindealer was first edited on Wednesday of each week and was an odd-looking journal , with the front page covered with advert isements while the news i tems were in the center of the paper. The Plaindealer was the fourth weekly newspaper of Linotypes In Action PATIENTLY AWAITING THE NEWS - Everybody wants to know the news of his home town, and Plaindealer readers are no exception. This picture was taken about ten years ago when a press failure delayed the newspapers. The crowd continued to grow and absolutely nothing could deter them from their appointed task, which was to get the news as it came off the press. McHenry County when it was launched sixty years ago. The others which were already in existence were the senior publication at Woodstock, the Sentinel , which was started in 1856 and where VanSlyke worked before coming to McHenry; the Harvard In­ dependent founded in 1865; the Marengo Republican in 1867, and then the McHenry Plain- dealer in 1875. The following year the Richmond Gazette was founded in 1876, then the McHenry County Democrat at Woodstock in 1877 and the Nunda Herald in 1880. The Plaindealer had to create a field more or less of i ts own and i ts policy which has been continued was then as now, to conduct i ts news and editorial columns in such way as to win the confidence and respect of i ts patrons. When the Plaindealer was started it was a t ime that personal journalism was common. Editors quarreled with each other and in the columns of their newspapers they said things, many t imes, that are no longer seen in the public press. Language used was strong because it was the period of vigorous verbiage. The l ifet ime of a community is portrayed nowhere more clearly than ir . i ts local newspaper and during the years of prosperi ty and depression many stories have fi l led our"sages, some of them accountsJpf gala affairs and golden j tfmlees, some of them events of history, some of them accounts of t ragedies, while others were tales of achievement which brought pride and happiness to the hearts of our ci t izens. The making of a ci ty may be gleaned from our columns, as the incorporation of the ci ty of McHenry and i ts many im­ provements have been recorded, the growth of various business enterprises have been followed and the l ifet ime of a community is portrayed as many changes have taken place in the community as well as in i ts people during the past half century. Congratulat ions upon the new publication were received by the founder from many editors and some of the newspapers heard from were: The Daily Bluff City, Elgin, which had to say, "The Plaindealer is the name of a large and handsome newspaper just s tarted in McHenry by J . VanSlyke, for years past edit ior of the Woodstock Sentinel . Van is the best journalist in McHenry county." From the Waukegan Patriot - - "Van Slvke has our best Linotypes, which were invented in 1890, for many years were used to set all type for news stories and much advertising copy in newspapers. These three machines were used in the Plaindealer office until a few years ago, with the change to offset printing. \ wishes for success." The Palat ine Herald - "It is a neat , newsy sheet , presents a nice appearance and ought to have the support of everybody at McHenry." Elgin Advocate -- "Presents a creditable appearance and should receive hearty support from the people i t represents." Marengo Republican - "We place if on our exchange l ist with pleasure." Belvidere Northwestern -- "We welcome the Plaindealer to a place in our exchanges and wish the editor al l success." Klkhorn Wis. , Liberal - "The Plaindealer wil l easi ly make good al l i ts promises." While the history of the sixty years existence of the McHenry Plaindealer has been pret ty well covered in the various interest ing art icles in these columns, contributed by for­ mer editors of the paper, we feel that Jav VanSlvke, founder and editor of the paper for twenty-six years, is deserving of further mention because of his many years of work and acit ivi ty in the interest of our ci ty and the press. One tragedy ot a col­ lege education is that many graduates won't know what to do for a livelihood after com­ mencement. / Fashions the r i i i i lSE • " liuw ... «d festoons [o suit you. fashions and styles change with the *• rf mm. » *»eM,iwsMSS fifties, A" h"8'"655 ̂ McGee's W ' h-"M ,**. of ft. *1 W* * _ 1919 -1975 McGee's was started in 1919 by Ray McGee and John E. Conwayat 1246 N. Green Street. In 1923 John E. Conway sold his interest to Ray McGee. In 1927 the business was located in the Walter Carey building at 1245 N. Green Street, where it is today. The business was incorporated in 1947, with Ray McGee and A.J. Wirtz as officers. The present officers are: Alida Wirtz as president, Jim Wegener as vice-president and Jack Wirtz as secretary. r 1245 N. Green St. McHenry Ph. 385-0047