If you've followed my blog or my social media platforms for a while now you will probably know how much I love anything to do with history and the past. Something about the past utterly fascinates me. I think a big part of it is that everything we are and have today is thanks to the people and the things that have happened before us, so I feel it is important to acknowledge the past and make time to learn about it.
I've shared many of my favorite things that are connected to history from my favorite TV shows and documentaries, to my favorite historic places to visit and books to read and today I want to share with you some thing super exciting that I know would make the most perfect unique and personal gift for any history lover or person that is interested in the past.
When Historic Newspapers got in touch with me to see if I'd be interested in helping them to spread the word about their personalised birthday newspaper books, I knew instantly that so many of you would love their product as much as I have come to.
A few weeks ago they very kindly sent me one of their popular birthday newspaper books and excitingly inside the book are reprints from newspaper headlines from my birthday every single year since I was born!
The amazing birthday newspaper book from Historic Newspapers came inside a beautiful gift box which will protect the book inside for years to come. You can choose between a black leather cover for your book or a green leatherette cover like the one I have here. I love that they offer the choice between leather and leatherette, as some people like myself prefer to stay clear of leather as much as possible. What is also lovely is that you are also able to add the recipients name in gold to the front cover and include a special message on the title page to make it even more of a personal and unique gift.
Inside the beautiful book which is A3 size, are reprints from the headlines of the Daily Mirror from the day the recipient was born (in this case, me) every single birthday up until the present day.
It is incredible to be able to see the newspaper headlines from the day I was actually born and the years that followed when I would have been too young to really understand the news and events that were happening at the time. It's fascinating to look back and be able to look up and research some of the things that were being reported at the time.
It's also been so fascinating to look through the book and be reminded of times gone by that I do remember such as the different prime ministers we've had.
And big stories such as the disappearance of Madeleine Mccann who sadly is still missing today.
Opposite each date of birth front page reprint is a 'remember when' page for the recipient or you to add photos or messages relating to that specific year which I think is a lovely touch and helps make this birthday book an even nicer keepsake.
It's so interesting to see front pages like this where history was being made at the time, with the introduction of pubs banning smoking indoors for the first time in 2004.
My birthday month is September which is the same month as the incredibly sad death of Princess Diana so naturally this was covered in the papers at the time in 1997.
The coronavirus and lockdowns that we're all currently still living through will be something that we will talk about for years and years to come and most likely talk to our grown up children and potential grandchildren about too. It will be interesting for them to be able to look back on this book with me and see how crazy it was that the world was having to enforce lockdowns during 2020 and 2021.
I absolutely love how nostalgic the birthday newspaper book is, it makes for a really special keepsake as well as a unique and personal gift idea. I can imagine it would be even more fascinating for an elderly relative to look through as the headlines can go back to around 1900. I bet it would be amazing for them to look back and remember what was being reported back then!
If you're not already familiar with Historic Newspapers then I highly recommend taking a look around their website, they are offer the most perfect unique and nostalgic gift ideas and even stock around 3 million original newspapers dating back over 100 years!
Thank you for reading. Alex xo
*This blog post is in collaboration with Historic Newspaper, however all thoughts shared are entirely my own.
