The Neighborhood News

In June 1932 two twelve-year olds, Bobby Upton and Billy George, hit upon a plan that they thought was pretty good. They thought they would like to start a newspaper and so, working from the hut in Bobby Upland’s back yard, they produced the Block News. Initially made with rubber stamps and without the aid of a typewriter, they were able to gain ten customers for their first edition. By edition number 2 they had retitled their publication to the Neighborhood News as they expanded their market area beyond the Vancouver / Hillside block that they lived on.

Soon the weekly paper took off, and the circulation grew from the original 10 copies of Vol I No I to 2,700 by the eleventh edition, published in the beginning of September. At 2 cents a copy, or 5 cents a month, and with backing from the Broadway merchants, who purchased advertising space at 50 cents a column inch, the paper soon consumed the energy of an army of seventy children from the neighborhood. The fact that they were each paid 5 cents, the price of admission at the Broadway Theatre on Saturday afternoons, was a strong motivation to these kids.

Vol 1 No VII  July 30, 1932
(click to read a full size copy)

Billy George’s father was the owner of George Reproductions (now called George Lithograph) in San Francisco. With his help the boys were able to layout the issues at the George family home at 1364 Vancouver Avenue. Mr. George would take the finished layouts to San Francisco on Friday and on Saturday the children would arrive to pick up their copies and deliver them.  Articles covered the happenings of the neighborhood, who had tonsillitis, who had house guests, who had been where for their vacation. One story that ran in the early issues covered a rash of dog poisonings in the neighborhood. Some suspected a deranged dog hater.

By April of 1933 the Neighborhood News had grown out of its home office surroundings and was established at 1177 California Drive, next to the Broadway Theatre, now a mini-mall. There a printing press was installed, operated by a union printer and the paper took on a more professional tone. Somehow the charm of a weekly paper written by children seemed to fade. By February 1934 advertising revenue was down, and there was concern about the viability of the paper. In June 1934 the paper was sold to a Mr. Edwards and in September the paper announced a new management team. The masthead that stated it was a paper written by children changed to say it was a paper fit for houses with children. The last issue in the historical society’s archive is dated December 28, 1934.

Billy George died in 1979.

The Burlingame Historical Society has an almost complete collection of the Neighborhood News though some key issues, including the first five, are missing. You can review the complete catalog and the lead article of each issue here.

Read a facsimile of Volume 1 No 9 issued on August 13, 1932.