Scarce World War II PM Newspaper Archive
A large collection (142 issues) of the very scarce WWII-era New York daily newspaper PM Daily. The paper was published from 1940 to 1948, but this collection includes issues from 1941 to 1943 only, the early, grim days of US involvement in the war. Of special note is that issues for December of 1941 include 17 of the 24 daily issues after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The collection also includes a few issues of the paper’s weekly supplements, PM Weekly and Picture News. The paper, which was financed by the Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III, had a decidedly liberal editorial philosophy and was staunchly pro-New Deal in its coverage. I.F. Stone was a regular columnist, and Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Suess) provided political cartoons in most of the issues. Many prominent authors of the day contributed articles during its nine year run, including Dorothy Parker, James Thurber, Dalton Trumbo, etc.
During this period, it covered the latest war news on all the various fronts, with extensive maps. But its 32 daily pages also contained the full range of typical newspaper coverage, including politics, entertainment, sports, local NY events, fashion and even a regular column on how to plan family meals within food rationing constraints. Much of the political coverage tried to warn of the dangers of lingering isolationist and appeasement attitudes within the US (e.g. the America First Committee, Charles Lindbergh etc.) and to defend New Deal programs from continuing budget threats from conservative politicians eager to use war priorities to kill off social programs. It also opposed Congressional witch-hunting, years before McCarthyism, in the form of the Dies Committee, which was more intent on seeking out Communist sympathizers (despite Russia then being a US ally) than in hunting for Nazi spies (and there were many).
The papers make for fascinating and educational reading. The first year of so of the war did not go well for the US and its allies. After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese quickly conquered the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Burma and the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and were threatening Australia. German U-boats were sinking dozens of American merchant ships, some just a few miles off the East Coast, and the Nazis came within a few miles of Moscow by December 1941. And the US needed time to ramp up wartime production of needed ships, tanks, guns, etc. The news stories provided daily reports on these setbacks, while still trying to find positive news to keep up public confidence. They also reported on the continuing political bickering and corporate vs. labor challenges in trying to unite a country to take on the realities of a global war effort.
This collection includes 142 issues, beginning December 8, 1941 and ending at the beginning of 1943, comprised of:
126 issues of PM Daily
16 issues of PM Weekly, published on Sundays, 8 which include Picture News and 7 of which include Section 2, apparently the predecessor to Picture News
There are also 4 pages from a single 1943 issue.
The distribution of issues by month is:
1941 – December - 17
1942 – January - 22
1942 - February – 17
1942 – March – 24
1942 – April – 11
1942 – May – 5
1942 – June – 16
1942 – July – 14
1942 – August – 14
1943 – January – 1
1943 – February – 1 plus the 4 p. remnant
Most of the issues are in good to very good condition, with moderate age darkening, although a few have torn or loose pages, and about 10 or so have instances of small photos clipped out. The issues can all still be read with careful handling. They are in unusually good condition actually, for newspapers of this vintage. Each issue is now protected in its own separate plastic sleeve to prevent further damage. Given PM’s relatively short life in print, copies are very scarce in the market. A few individual issues are sometimes available on Ebay and other sites and are typically priced at $40-50 each, but it appears that such a large group of issues is exceptionally uncommon.
Sold as a collection $1,500, with free shipping
Note: This collection is relatively heavy. Within the US, my policy of free shipping still applies, but shipment to addresses outside the US will require significant shipping charges.
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This collection is offered on this website only at the moment. Payment can be made by bank transfer, Paypal or check. Email us at books@stanleylouisremarkablebooks.com to inquire or purchase.
