About The daily Panhandle. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 1906-19??
Amarillo, Tex. (1906-19??)

Amarillo Daily Panhandle

In 1906, Peter E. Boesen printed the first issue of the Amarillo Daily Panhandle.  Boesen changed the name of his existing paper, the Amarillo Twice=a=Week Herald, to the Amarillo Weekly Herald, which he published as the Panhandle’s Thursday edition.  S. A. Brewster edited and managed both papers.  Eight pages long and measuring 15 x 22 inches, the Panhandle circulated every evening except Sunday.  In 1908, the paper reached 1,800 subscribers and cost five dollars a year.

The Panhandle had a Democratic bent, but it served more as a vessel for local news than political editorials. No ads ran on the paper’s front page, a feature remarkable for the period. As the official newspaper of Amarillo and Potter County, the Panhandle printed local political, school board, church, and social news in addition to wires from the Associated Press. In its early years, sensational stories of regional and national crime received prominent coverage. For instance, several articles chronicled the mysterious disappearance of one Mr. Henry Schulz, who was assumed to be murdered but was later discovered to have simply been visiting Wichita, Kansas. A front-page daily column entitled “The Weather by the Jester” told long, fantastical stories followed by a brief weather forecast. One such feature described a ship captain who helped sailors overcome their fear of giant tidal waves, ending with, “Speaking of tidal waves, the weather tonight and tomorrow will be generally fair.”

Special editions of the Panhandle were periodically published and distributed throughout the Texas Panhandle and the United States. They aimed to spread interest in and knowledge of the Texas plains and encourage people to relocate to the area.

The paper changed hands several times in the early 1910s. In 1913, the Panhandle was purchased by Bascon N. Timmons, a Texas native with experience writing for the Washington Post and later an influential political analyst. The Panhandle took on the appearance and content of a major East Coast publication, incorporating more national and international news in its coverage.  Notable features included a sports section entitled “A real Sporting Page, they say” and “A Page of Fun” with cartoons, stories, and puzzles for children. 

Despite the Panhandle’s expanded offerings, the paper was losing money.  In 1916, Timmons sold the paper to Dr. Joseph E. Nunn, owner of the Amarillo Daily News. Eli Emmons, editor of the News, took on the role of editor at the Daily Panhandle as well. Nunn published the Panhandle as an evening companion paper to the Daily News until 1922, when it proved too unprofitable to be continued.

Provided by: University of North Texas; Denton, TX