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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1981 Pictorial history of photography in the Missoula Montana Missoulian from 1873 to the beginning of World War II David L. Lee The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Lee, David L., "Pictorial history of photography in the Missoula Montana Missoulian from 1873 to the beginning of World War II" (1981). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5064. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5064 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 Th i s is an unpublished m a n u s c r i p t in w h i c h c o p y r i g h t s u b ­ s i s t s . Any f u r t h e r r e p r i n t i n g of its c o n t e n t s m u s t be a p p r o v e d BY THE AUTHOR. Ma n s f i e l d L i br ar y Uni v e r s i ty-oi^ Mo n t a n a Da t e : A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE MISSOULA, MONTANA, MISSOULIAN FROM 1873 TO THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II By David L. Lee B.S., Florida State University, 1970 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts University of Montana 1981 Approved by: Chairman, Board of Examiners Dean, Graduate SShool Date UMI Number: EP40528 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI EP40528 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT Lee, David L., M.A., June 1981, Journalism A Pictorial History of Photography in the Missoula, Montana, Missoulian from 1873 to the Beginning of World War II (189 pp.) Director: Warren J. Brier w : r e This study traces the use of photography in the daily Missoulian from 1873 to 1941. The first, section, a brief history of photojournalism, places the Missoulian in a historical perspective and provides infor­ mation about the development and refinement of photography and its use in newspapers. The second section chronicles the period from the Missoulian1s establishment in 1870 as the Missoula and Cedar Creek Pioneer to the beginning of World War II, which would bring major changes in photojournalism. All issues of the Missoulian from Sept. 15, 1980, to Dec. 18, 1941, were studied, and photographs were selected as being representative of technological changes, shifts in editorial policy, changes in society and for historical sig­ nificance. The Missoulian was representative of small-circulation dailies during the period studied. When the Missoulian was founded, photography--a scientific curiosity— was incompatible with print. When World War II began, a technological revolution in photography was under way. Throughout the period, illustration played a major role in changing the appearance of all newspapers. Readers1 demands for more and better pictures outweighed the opinions of editors who preferred columns of type. The Missoulian, like other newspapers, seemed to resist the change. But just before the war, that change was markedly apparent. Photographs had become a legitimate and necessary part of American journalism. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ................................................ ii INTRODUCTION ............................................ 1 SECTION I BACKGROUND Chapter 1. From Pictographs to Photojournalism... 3 Chapter 2. The Technology of Preserving Latent Images................................. 23 Chapter 3. Halftone Images: Photomechanical Bar Mitzvah............................ 30 Chapter 4. Tools of the Trade..................... 39 Chapter 5. Delivering Pictures with the News 47 SECTION II SURVEY OF A SMALL CIRCULATION DAILY Chapter 6. The Missoulian......................... 58 Chapter 7. Summary................................ 174 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY................................... 176 iii 1 INTRODUCTION From the earliest cave drawings to TV satellites, pictures have defied language barriers to serve as a universal means of communication. Man first described his life by adorning the walls of his cave with crude depictions of daily activities. In time artists corroborated written historical accounts, and improved printing methods facilitated wide dissemination of written and pictorial accounts. In 1839 a new form of illustration, photography, was invented by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre. But even before photography, newspapers envisioned the advantage of com­ bining illustrations with written copy. By 1843 the year- old Illustrated London News had more than doubled its circu­ lation by liberal use of woodcut engravings. It was not until 1880 that a means of reproducing the tonal gradations of photographs in conjunction with one-tone printed type was perfected. But a combination of factors— the development of a successful negative/positive photo­ graphic process, the perfection of the halftone process, and the introduction of a plastic-based roll film--merged about 1890 to lay the cornerstone of modern photojournalism. Then the immediacy, literal description, and convincing presenta­ tion of reality embodied in photographs became a part of the newspaper industry. 2 The achievements of early news photographers with cumbersome and by modern standards primitive equipment are almost beyond comprehension by today's photographers. But that crude beginning has resulted in photojournalism becoming the major interest that it is in the newspaper industry. This study examines one Montana daily newspaper from its founding until the beginning of World War II. The Missoula Missoulian was established shortly before the emergence of the halftone as a general feature of American newspapers, so its start conveniently coincides with the developmental stages of photojournalism. All issues from January 1873 to December 1941 were reviewed. Photographs were chosen because they are representative of a period or a particular technological development. All photos in this manuscript are reproductions from original Missoulian pages taken with a Mamiya C220 2^-square format camera on Kodak Plus-X Professional film. Some of the earliest photos were taken from microfilm, for bound volumes of the earliest Missoulians are not available. Some loss of detail is apparent because an enlarged halftone dot pattern is the result of photographs made from previously screened photos. The study ends at the beginning of World War II because of the increased technological sophistication that resulted from the war effort. Further study during the war years and to contemporary times is recommended. 3 SECTION I Chapter 1 History: From Pictographs To Photojournalism Although photojournalism is relatively young, the concept of telling news of events pictorially goes back as far as the history of man. The earliest pictographic records of events (hunts, birth, death, war, etc.) in the lives of prehistoric man predate the alphabet by thousands of years. More than 25,000 years ago inhabitants of rock shelters in Spain depicted hunting scenes and other aspects of their life with wall paintings. Within the next few thousand years the cave dwellers in France and Spain similarly adorned their cave walls. Bas-reliefs dated about 3,000 B.C. record kings1 conquests and other historical events, including in one instance a governor carrying a brick basket (the Babylonian equivalent of laying a corner­ stone ). ^ The beginning of an "illustrated press" appeared in early illuminated manuscripts of the ancient Egyptians. These led craftsmen to experiment with woodcuts, which resulted in a type of news sheet— one-page, one-shot The Complete Book of Press Photography (New York: National Press Photographers Association, Inc., 1950), p.8 4 illustrations that recorded the story of an event. As engravers became more proficient, these illustrated news 2 accounts grew m popularity. Ironically, the beginning of photojournalistic renderings and social comment in illustrations evolved not from these early pictorial records but from the artistic interpretations of two eighteenth century artists, William Hogarth and Francisco Jose' de Goya y Lucientes. Hogarth (1697 to 1764), a London painter during an era when pretti­ ness and pomp were fashionable, introduced blunt honesty into his paintings as commentary on the English social structure and its morals. Lucientes (1746 to 1828), a Spanish artist, achieved his fame soon after Hogarth by documenting the brutal life and times of the war-torn and 3 corrupt S p a m m which he lived. Newspapers did not wait for the coming of photography to illustrate their pages. Cartoons and drawings were used to a limited extent in the early English and American 4 Colonial press. 2 Clifton C. Edom, Photojournalism Principles and Practices (Dubuque, Iowa: William C. Brown Co., 1976), p.l. 3 Milton Feinberg, Techniques of Photojournalism (New York: Wiley-* Interscience, 1970), p.3. 4 Robert B. Rhode, Floyd H. McCall, Press Photography: Reporting With A Camera (New York: Macmillan Co., 1961), p.19. 5 A humorous example of that period appeared in a 1724 issue of Parker’s London News. A woodcut illustration showed a step-by-step diagram of an eclipse of the sun. In the illustration the sun is characterized with smiling, dimple- 5 ■ ■ faced human features.

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