Topeka Kaws · Topeka, Kansas · 1913

Base Ball: Topeka vs. Wichita

From the Topeka State Journal of July 22, 1913: Base Ball. Topeka vs. Wichita, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 22 and 23, games at 3:30 o'clock. Twelve words, one ruled box, and everything a fan needed to know. The same page carried the result of game one, a 5 to 0 Topeka whitewash.

“BASE BALL. TOPEKA vs. WICHITA. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. July 22 and 23. Games at 3:30 O’Clock.” That’s the whole advertisement, in a double-ruled box in The Topeka State Journal of July 22, 1913.

There’s a confidence in an ad this plain. No prices, because you knew the prices. No directions to the park, because you knew the way. No promise of stars or stunts or souvenirs. Just the fact of baseball, twice, at 3:30, stated with the same typographic urgency as a bank’s interest rate.

The Journal was an evening paper, and that made this page a neat piece of time travel: the same page carrying the ad for the series also carried the full story of the Tuesday opener, in which Doc Reynolds whitewashed Wichita on three hits, 5 to 0, in ninety-five minutes flat. So a reader could learn how game one went and still make plans for game two, in a single sitting, for the price of one newspaper. The advertising department sold you Wednesday while the sports department settled Tuesday.