This Sleeth project is becoming more and more like a logic puzzle. I've finally started in on the dreaded newspaper clippings. Thousands upon thousands (and that's no exaggeration) of Dana's newspaper column, all undated, from at least five different newspapers (also unknown).
And now it's my job to sort them all out. I'm not going for total chronology--that would just be crazy and impossible. Instead, I'm shooting for a date range of about a year. I'm basing my conjecture on a few different things:
1) dates found on the opposite side of the paper-- Luckily for me, the Spokane Press ran Dana's column with the legal notices on the reverse of the paper.
2) dates sometimes copyrighted for advertisements
3) dates occasionally included in the clipping, along with the name of the paper
4) dates from advertisements for movies. Oh International Movie Database, how you've helped me out. Sometimes the only way I can even come close to guessing a date is from the advertisement for the Saturday matinee.
I'm also getting quite good at matching typeface, different pictures of Dana, boxes and formats, all which indicate which newspaper carried the column. It will never be perfect, and I'm sure that they're hopelessly out of order, but the important thing is the content, not the date. For now, circa is as good as I can hope for.
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