Calico Print facts for kids

The Calico Print was a newspaper that started in 1882. It was published when Calico, California was a busy town known for silver mining, before 1902. The name Calico Print was also used for a magazine later on. This magazine came out every month, and then every two months. It shared interesting stories and facts about the desert West.

The Calico Print Returns!

A New Beginning in the 1930s

The Calico Print was brought back to life in the 1930s. Grail Fuller and Lucille Coke started this new version. It was a monthly newspaper, like a small magazine. It reprinted old articles from the original newspaper. It also had new stories. People bought it mainly when they visited Walter Knott's rebuilt Calico Ghost Town.

The 1950s Era

In November 1950, Harold and Lucile Weight took over the Calico Print. They used to work as editors at Desert Magazine. They published 17 monthly issues in the newspaper style. However, the Weights found themselves rushing to meet deadlines again. This was the same problem that made them leave Desert Magazine. They wanted to record stories of desert pioneers, but the deadlines made it hard.

To fix this, the Calico Print changed. It started coming out every two months instead of every month. The look also changed. It became a shiny, illustrated digest size magazine. Nine issues of this magazine version were published. They came out from June 1952 to November 1953. The Weights' company, Calico Press, published them in Twentynine Palms, California.

These nine magazine issues are now very special to desert fans. They are full of detailed desert history. The Weights wrote many articles themselves. Other famous writers also contributed. These included Adelaide Arnold, L. Burr Belden, Ed Rochester, Edmund C. Jaeger, Jerry Laudermilk, Charles Fletcher Lummis, Arthur Woodward, Senator Charles Brown, Harry Oliver, and Ruth Kirk.

Special "Folio" Sections

Some of the nine magazine issues of Calico Print included a special section called a "Folio." These Folios focused on one topic in great detail. One interesting Folio was about Wm. B. Rood. He was a famous pioneer from Death Valley. This was published in the August–September 1952 issue.

Other Folios covered different historical places and topics. These included:

• The Comstock Lode (June 1952)
• Belmont, Nevada (October–November 1952)
• Greenwater, California (January 1953)
• The Great Survey (March 1953)
• The Kofa Mountains and King Mine in Arizona (May 1953)
• New Almaden, California's oldest mine (July 1953)
• The legends of the Lost Ship of the Desert (November 1953)

The Calico Print magazine stopped being published at the end of 1953. After that, the Weights focused on their book series. This series was called Southwest Panomama. It also shared desert history.