A one-of-a-kind trove reveals what rural 19th-century American boyhood was like

Exactly. When you find an old newspaper, you read the classified ads. Because ordinary people wrote about their daily needs there. Its so human.

Two of my favorite books growing up were The Real Diary of a Real Boy and The Great Brain. Both are accounts of a young boy growing up in 19th century, small town America. The Real Diary is about Exeter, NH in the 1840s. The Great Brain is about Utah (and is much better written, I think most Hacker News readers would benefit from giving this book to their child). The books were penned after the fact, but were based on the author's boyhood experiences. These books both painted a portrait of old-time life, and also gave me a feeling of continuity with the past.