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 New York Clipper building, 1876 | |
| Type | Weeklyentertainmentnewspaper |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1853 |
| Ceased publication | 1924 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | New York City, 88-90 Centre Street |
| Free online archives | New York Clipper at the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections,University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign University Library |
TheNew York Clipper, also known asThe Clipper, was a weeklyentertainmentnewspaper published inNew York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, includingcircuses,dance,music, theoutdoors,sports, andtheatre. It had a circulation of about 25,000.[1] The publishers also produced the yearlyNew York Clipper Annual. In 1924,The Clipper was absorbed into the entertainment journalVariety.
Frank Queen began publishing theNew York Clipper in 1853, making it the first American paper devoted entirely to entertainment; the paper eventually shortened its name toThe Clipper. The paper was one of the earliest publications in the United States to regularly cover sports, and it played an important role in popularizingbaseball in the country. In addition to more popular sporting events, theNew York Clipper also wrote aboutbilliards,bowling, evenchess. It began coveringAmerican football in 1880. In 1894, however,The Clipper dropped its sports coverage and devoted itself entirely to theatre.
In addition to entertainment,The Clipper regularly published short satirical pieces written in exaggerateddialects such asAfrican American English or the speech of the New YorkBowery b'hoys. For example, this letter is from a fictitiousIrishtravel writer named "Shamus McFudd":
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After me an Tim had seen the illiphant, an exhamined his trunk to see how many klane shurts he had, we wint to see a grate big snake, wid a body the size iv a whale, a tail that wud wind 3 times around Pat Clansey's cow stable. Och! sich a monster I niver want to clap me ises on agin. His mouth was so big that he cud take me an Tim at wan swaller widout openin it at all; and when his 2 jaws cum together, the Whole house wud shake as it is had a fit iv the ager. They feed him on broiled pavin stones, an whin he takes dhrink, feth he laves the river so dhry that all the ships ran aground. The divil a wurd iv a lie I'm telling ye.[2]
TheClipper was the paper of record for the circus business from its founding until about 1902 whentheBillboard overtook it in coverage. For most of its life the paper carried a circus section and contained both classified and display advertising for circuses. It remains the single best news source for the circus in the second half of the 19th century, and is essential to circus historians. It had its competitors for circus news including theSporting and Theatrical Journal, theNew York Mercury, and theDramatic News, all of which covered circuses to a greater or lesser degree. TheClipper is also an important source forminstrel shows and popular theater.
In 1922,Sime Silverman, the publisher of the rival newspaperVariety, acquired theClipper and folded it 2 years later.[3]
Today, theNew York Public Library and theLibrary of Congress possess nearly complete collections of the newspaper. Many other research libraries havemicrofilm copies. Many issues are available online at fultonhistory.com, an archive of historical newspapers from New York, in the University of Illinois digital newspaper collection and at archive.org.
