Here we have issues of The Wake Weekly spanning a decade from 1968 to 1977. This paper focuses on small town life ten miles north of Raleigh where they take great pride in their celebrations. In addition to fireworks and parades, the town also heavily features (maybe to the horror of some) local clowns. So here’s a list of the top clowns in The Wake Weekly:

In this batch we have hundreds of issues of The Wake Weekly and Youngsville-Rolesville Record spanning from 1963 to 1967, a period of time when pop culture was rapidly changing throughout the world.

When The Beatles made their first American television appearance in February of 1964, it seemed like millions of teens immediately ran out and bought their first guitars. Despite only having a population of around 3,000 at the time, it would appear Wake Forest was no different in that regard.

As rock ‘n roll sank its teeth into American teen culture, new groups began to pop up left and right like local crowd pleasers The Vandals, the young and talented Stephens Brothers (and Little Sister), and even Fuquay-Varina’s very own Contortions came to visit. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of these musicians making recordings during this time period, but another Wake Forest teen did wind up making it to tape.

Hjordis Christoph was attending St. Mary’s Junior College in the mid-60s and joined “…One of St. Mary’s Leading Symphonic Washtub Bands” The Cold Cuts. She is credited as playing “Hot Dog” on their 1966 LP released by the beloved JCP record label out of Raleigh. Other instruments listed on this record include sticks, crazy stick, bird cage, sponges, and rulers.

These papers were provided to us by our partners at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. For information about events and planning a visit you can visit their site here.

We now have issues of The Wake Weekly and Youngsville-Rolesville Record from 1952 and 1960 through 1962 up on DigitalNC! The scope of the paper rarely ventures outside its tri-town borders, but offers a unique look into the lives of Raleigh’s northern neighbors in the 1950s and 60s.

In this batch we have illegal gambling parties complete with confiscated moonshine, the much-anticipated results of the Dairy Princess Pageant, writers expressing their feelings about this wild new thing called “rock ‘n roll,” and a teenage gossip column where you can learn whether Jerry Beddingfield and Nancy Pettigrew like Twist and Shout by the Isley Brothers or not. Every accomplishment was celebrated and every traffic citation documented. With a paper this intimate it’s easy to see how tight knit this community really was.

These papers were provided to us by our partners at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. For information about events and planning a visit you can visit their site here.