The year was 1900. ‘Twas a different time – a simpler time – when Canada was embroiled in its first foreign war, rocking chairs cost $1.69 and alcohol could supposedly cure what ails ya.
When Ottawa resident Marisa Monaco bought an old mirror at Value Village in 2001, she had no idea the object was hiding a window to the past.
The mirror sat in Monaco’s home for 17 years before she spotted fine print in the edges of the frame, prompting her to crack it open for a look at what was inside. She thought it might be newsprint from the 1950s or ‘60s, but what she found was a something much older: an edition of the Mail and Empire newspaper – predecessor to the Globe and Mail – from 1900.
“I kind of freaked out right in the house,” she told CTV Ottawa on Wednesday. Monaco says she called her daughter immediately, and the two started to pore over the paper, catching up on the news from 118 years ago.
Monaco says she discovered several curiosities in the paper.
“There was a very funny article about Hennessy (cognac) and how it’s actually good for your health and it was prescribed for medicinal purposes,” she said.
The paper also included an article on Canadian casualties suffered in the Boer War, the first foreign conflict in which Canada ever participated.
“Somebody was reading this newspaper 118 years ago, and was looking for who was killed, who was wounded… and this is how they got their news,” she said.
Monaco is now looking for someone to give the newspaper to so that it can be properly preserved.
“This is a historic piece of paper,” she said.
She added that it was “thrilling” to get her hands on such an artifact of the past – especially since it happened by chance.
“We sometimes hold little pieces of history in our hands and we don’t realize it,” she said.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem
