Illustrated Newspaper Supplements

Step back in time to see the news as it happened! This set of cover pages from the New York Tribune illustrated supplements begins with the year 1909. The pages are derived from the Chronicling America newspaper resource at the Library of Congress. To read the small text letters, just click the persistent URL to reach a zoomable version of the page.

Daily newspapers began to feature pictorial sections in the late 1800s when they competed for readers by offering more investigative exposés, illustrations, and cartoons. In the 1890s, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer tapped into new photoengraving techniques to publish halftone photographs, and other newspapers soon adopted the practice. The heavily illustrated supplement sections became the most widely read sections of the papers and provided a great opportunity to attract new customers. The daily life, art, entertainment, politics, and world events displayed in their pages captured the imagination of a curious public.

For more information or to ask a question about these newspapers in Flickr, please visit the National Digital Newspaper Program Web site or the Newspapers and Current Periodicals Reading Room Web site at the Library of Congress.