If you’re looking for a unique birthday gift, for those ‘hard to buy for’ loved ones ... something personal to the recipient with a bit of history thrown in, then this is for you!
Historic Newspapers have created a birthday newspaper book, created from original newspapers from days gone by. With the world’s largest archive of over 3 million newspapers, this is the perfect opportunity to have a little look back into past birthdays and discover who or what made the headlines!
Disclosure: Ad: We were sent this book for the purpose of this review
The first thing that struck me when the Birthday Newspaper Book arrived was the sheer size of it! It really is an A3 tabloid newspaper size! The quality of this book is fantastic - the name and date of birth of the recipient is embossed in gold on the front cover of the book, alongside the book title on luxury black leather. It also came with its own gift box to protect the book inside and keep it looking pristine for years to come!
You are able to include a personal birthday message on the first page of the book, and the opposite page of every headline includes a blank space for you to add your own memories of the day - a nice personal touch.
There are also a number of blank pages at the end of the book for you to continue the headlines, or add something in for the year this was received! Obviously for the purpose of receiving this book as a birthday gift, it wont have included the headlines of the year this is actually gifted, unless you order the book 30 days after the recipient's birthday... perhaps an idea for those you are still waiting to see and celebrate with?
The older the recipient is, the more pages this book will include, so it is definitely a worthwhile investment for those who are celebrating later-in-life birthdays!
I ordered this newspaper birthday book as a gift for my husband, here are his thoughts on the book ...
Thomas' thoughts:
" I’m interested in history so it’s nice to have a piece of history that is relevant to me - ie, a piece of history for each birthday of my life. I was particularly happy to see that my Surname featured in one of the headlines one year! It is interesting to see how newspapers have changed over time - particularly the early objectification of women compared to now.
I’m not a Mirror reader so the newspapers are not ones I would have read or seen anyway. It would be interesting to compare the headlines to other publications of the same day. "
" I’m interested in history so it’s nice to have a piece of history that is relevant to me - ie, a piece of history for each birthday of my life. I was particularly happy to see that my Surname featured in one of the headlines one year! It is interesting to see how newspapers have changed over time - particularly the early objectification of women compared to now.
I’m not a Mirror reader so the newspapers are not ones I would have read or seen anyway. It would be interesting to compare the headlines to other publications of the same day. "
There is also the option of choosing a Telegraph birthday newspaper book if this would be preferable to the Mirror.
The historic newspaper website gives a little bit of extra information on its choice of use of the Daily Mirror:
" The Daily Mirror is Britain’s best-selling post-war newspaper up to the 1970s since it was established in 1903. Through broad journalistic content, including photographs (something many competing titles didn’t utilise), advertisements etc. the Daily Mirror provides superior insight into the past. Please note: The Mirror was on strike from 26th March 1955 through to 20th April 1955. Should your chosen birth date fall within the strike period, we’ll insert a page into your Birthday Edition – Newspaper Book explaining that there were no papers available on that date."
If you would like to purchase one of these books as a birthday gift, then you can find them here on the historic newspaper website.
Sarah x