Newsstands from Seattle to New York quickly sold out of Wednesday's papers declaring Barack Obama the nation's first black president as jubilant customers picked up two, three or even 30 copies as keepsakes.
The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune were among papers that restarted their printing presses to produce hundreds of thousands of additional copies across the country.
Entrepreneurs were seeking as much as $200 for The New York Times on eBay.com on Wednesday.
John Penley, a white man who recalled drinking out of the "wrong" water fountain as a child in North Carolina, searched New York's Lower East Side on Wednesday for papers to mark an event he never dreamed possible in his lifetime.
"There was one copy left at the bodega around the corner, and people were actually fighting for it," said Penley, a retired photojournalist. "I can't find a copy of any paper anywhere."
In Miami's diverse South Beach neighborhood, Books & Books manager Vivienne Evans said customers lined up even before the store opened.
"People were breaking down the door," she said.
In the South Bay, the Daily Breeze sold out, and -- together with its sister paper the Long Beach Press-Telegram -- sold an extra 25,000 copies Wednesday.
Say what you want about the Internet replacing printed newspapers, but saving a copy of a Web page on a disk isn't the same.
"What it really shows is there's a unique value to print," said Steve Hills, The Washington Post's president and general manager. "It's the ability to look at the whole thing and have a piece of history in your hands."
If you didn't make it to a newsstand in time to get your piece of history, it's not too late. The Breeze is one of many papers across the country selling reprints of its Wednesday front page.
When you order your copy, you can also buy T-shirts and coffee mugs decorated with the historic coverage.
Leave a comment