TWIN FALLS, Idaho — A Washington man's yearly spring cleaning has revealed what life was like in the City of Buhl more than 100 years ago.
While cleaning out some old boxes in his garage, former Buhl resident Jerry Duppong, came across an issue of The Buhl Pioneer — a newspaper issue dated Dec. 23, 1915. The paper's contents give a snapshot into the lives of Buhl residents, with articles promoting the automobile, and various advertisements, one which shows the price of a shirt being just 39 cents.
How these papers came to be in Duppong's possession still remains somewhat of a mystery.
"You know my jaw kind of dropped,” said Duppong. “Because I looked at the date and that the date of these newspapers precedes any of our family being in Buhl."
Duppong said it is likely the papers were placed there by his grandma. Duppong does plan to donate the papers to the Twin Falls County Historical Society Museum.
You know, my jaw kind of dropped.
Duppong’s interest in history and his ties to his family still in Buhl motivated him to reach out to Washington State University, who provided him some background on The Buhl Pioneer’s editor John Warren White. The university then gave Duppong photos and items that further paint the picture of life in the early 1900s.
