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Newspaper The Oakwood Press (Oakwood (Dayton), Ohio) 1931-1955 Press

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About The Oakwood Press (Oakwood (Dayton), Ohio) 1931-1955

The Oakwood Press was an 8- to 16-page weekly newspaper serving Oakwood, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, 1932-1954. The Press (as it frequently referred to itself) was usually distributed on Thursdays and was free to readers for most of its existence. It was one of several community papers published by the Dayton-Oakwood Press, who also offered a range of other printing services. Its sibling titles included various local editions of the Dayton Press from around the area. Combined, the Dayton-Oakwood Press’s titles boasted “Dayton’s Largest Circulation – 47,800” in 1939; by 1951, that had risen to 66,600.

As a community newspaper, the Press mostly discussed local matters. According to “A History of Oakwood’s ‘Fourth Estate,’” an essay by Harry G. Ebeling, it “carried news of school and athletic events as well as church and park happenings, honor societies, PTA and women’s interests. Classified ads filled several pages and it was the official publication for proposed ordinances.” Ebeling also writes that it “took an aggressive stand on issues of public interest,” as editorials were often pointedly critical of government inefficiency, bureaucracy, and taxes. Though the Press self-identified as politically independent, it tended to favor pro-business, small-government policies, declaring on January 29, 1953, “The smaller the unit of government and the closer it is to the people the more likely it is to be efficient and effective.”

The Press was also known to clash with other Dayton newspapers, namely the Dayton Herald, Dayton Journal, and the Dayton Journal Herald, the latter being a result of the formers’ 1949 merger. On February 8, 1945, for example, the Press rebuked the Dayton Journal for incompetence and violating the law during a journalistic investigation. In the October 1, 1953, issue, the editors proclaimed their paper “the only bulwark that stands between [Dayton] and a potentially-ruthless [newspaper] monopoly” dominated by the “big daily,” likely referring to the Journal Herald. To the leadership of the Oakwood Press, their newspaper was an indispensable voice that relentlessly advocated for the community and fought for regular people.

However, it was not exclusively serious or critical. Nearly every front page contained a beloved humor column called “Fiddlesticks.” Its author was “Fagin Fogg,” a pen name used by a local advertising executive named Ralf Kircher. In another essay titled “Ralf Kircher – a witty, one-of-a-kind local writer,” Ebeling identifies him as a forerunner of the famous humorist (and fellow Daytonian) Erma Bombeck, who thought highly enough of Kircher that she wrote the introduction to one of his books in 1972. Kircher retired from writing “Fiddlesticks” in the early 1950s, though the Press continued to publish reprints, and it was briefly resurrected in 1956 for the Kettering-Oakwood Times.

In October 1953, the Press’s editors announced that they would be semi-retiring and turning over operations to a senior employee. The following September, the Oakwood Press was consolidated with at least one other edition of the Dayton Press to form the Dayton Press – Centerville, Kettering, Oakwood edition. It didn’t endure, however, and the Dayton-Oakwood Press stopped publishing newspapers circa 1955.

Provided By: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Oakwood Press (Oakwood (Dayton), Ohio) 1931-1955

Other Title

  • Press

Dates of Publication

  • 1931-1955

Created / Published

  • Oakwood (Dayton), Ohio : Dayton-Oakwood Press

Headings

  • -  Oakwood (Montgomery County, Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Montgomery County (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Dayton (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Ohio--Montgomery County
  • -  Ohio--Oakwood (Montgomery County)
  • -  United States--Ohio--Montgomery--Oakwood

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1931; ceased in 1955?
  • -  Published as: Press, Oct. 7, 1954-.
  • -  Description based on: 7th year, no. 26 (Jan 5, 1939).

Medium

  • v.

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn88077215

OCLC Number

  • 17538469

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Oakwood Press Oakwood Dayton, Ohio -1955. (Oakwood, OH), Jan. 1 1931. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88077215/.

APA citation style:

(1931, January 1) The Oakwood Press Oakwood Dayton, Ohio -1955. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn88077215/.

MLA citation style:

The Oakwood Press Oakwood Dayton, Ohio -1955. (Oakwood, OH) 1 Jan. 1931. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn88077215/.