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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, January 14, 2024, pg. 8 We congratulate Wilcox Publications on their purchase and continuance of Albion's fine publications, The Recorder, and the Morning Star. Yours truly has agreed to continue my weekly column here; please give them a call and let them know you appreciate it (517) 629-2127. Also please remember that advertising helps fund publications such as this; I love to see advertising on my page to help support my column. The Morning Star shopper was first published in Albion around 1939 by Rollo (1900-1977) and Coral (Martin) (1897-1965) Davis. Rollo had moved to Albion from Litchfield where he was a school principal there, and later taught in the Homer Community School before retiring in 1965. Looking at his obituary, we find that Rollo taught at Albion High School during World War II, taught at the Air Cadet Training Program at Albion College, and was a Superintendent of the local Presbyterian Church. The Morning Star was published on Thursdays, and contained at least six pages of print consisting of three sheets of long paper triple-stapled on the left margin. The Davis' operated their enterprise out of their home at 1002 E. Porter St. The Morning Star was a free mimeographed shopper containing advertisements from various merchants, as well as individual want-ads. Merchants discovered that the Star advertising cost was cheaper and the distribution wider than the local newspaper, the Albion Evening Recorder. Since a mimeographed paper had to have an original stencil, it took an artist to etch the designs or illustrations into the master copy. The Davis' granddaughter Cheryl (Kaiser) VanderMolen wrote me, "I know my grandma [Coral] helped and even drew some of the ads." Another early artist was Albion native Robert Benjamin (1921-2001), a student at Albion College at the time who lived with the Davis' while in college. Robert's artwork appears in the Morning Star during his college years. He helped earn his way through college this way, and graduated in 1942. Robert was the father of our local artist Maggie LaNoue, known for her wide array of area drawings, greeting and postcards. Maggie wrote me, "My dad told me he did the ads directly for clients in the early days, and the layout of the paper too, possibly in exchange for rent. It took him four hours per ad when he started, so he charged the going hourly rate which came to 25 ¢. Later, when he got more skilled, he kept the same rate per ad, 25 ¢, but since they only took him one hour each once he got good, he was making four times as much per hour and feeling pretty good about that. All the layout of the early Morning Star and all the ads you showed me [July 3, 1941 issue] were his artwork. I recognize his style. He kept that same lettering for his designs all through his life." At the end of the War the Morning Star moved to 121 N. Superior St. in downtown Albion where it continued its operations. It also did job printing. Branching out, they sold Smith-Corona typewriters, real estate, and insurance. In the late 1950s the Davis' sold the Morning Star to Willard Snyder and John Gilbert who moved it to 108 W. Porter St. where it remained for many years. Such is the early history of the Morning Star. Next week I'll write about the Albion Recorder newspaper in this column. From our Historical Notebook this week we present the masthead of the July 3, 1941 edition of the Morning Star, featuring the artwork of Robert Benjamin, with the Driscoll's Market advertisement for berries beginning below. Next, pictured is the front of the 121 N. Superior St. location in September, 1954. The window states, "MORNING STAR PRINTING CO," a star in the middle, and then at the bottom "Smith-Corona Portable Typewriters." Our final photo features Rollo and Coral Davis, the founders of the Morning Star.  The masthead of the July 3, 1941 edition of the Morning Star
 The front of the 121 N. Superior St. location in September, 1954
 Rollo and Coral Davis, the founders of the Morning Star
All text copyright, 2026 © all rights reserved Frank Passic | Artwork copyright Maggie LaNoue © 2026
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