[lbo-talk] newspapers in 1776 [was: happiness pays?]

[Michael Hoover]

>>> cbcox at ilstu.edu 04/05/06 6:58 PM >>>
Also -- in the 18th & 19th c. reading aloud of texts in groups,
interspaced with discussion of what was being read, was far more common
than today. From some experimenting in a study group here back in the
1970s we discovered that the less 'literate' members of the group could
keep up on the discussion of rather complex texts if they had an audio
tape to follow along with their reading. Intelligent non-literate people
of the colonial period would undoubtedly have been able to participate
intelligently in political discussion on the basis of hearing texts read
aloud.
Carrol
<<<<<>>>>>

above was apparently quite common in inns, taverns, and coffeehouses
that folks went to quite regularly, reading material was available in such
places and discussion of various topics 'in the news' was habitual, pubs 
also kept pen and paper around, folks often used local pub as postal 
address for both sending and receiving correspondence...   mh