Taylor Pardue | The Elkin Tribune

Issues of the Chatham Blanketeer, currently on file at the Elkin Public Library.

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Local historian and author Jason Couch is donating a “starter” collection of several hundred issues of Chatham Blanketeer to the Elkin Historical Collection, which houses historic items for the Elkin Public Library.

Now the library is looking for certian copies from the community to add to the collection.

Chatham Blanketeer was the newsletter of the Chatham Manufacturing Company from 1933-1989, recording company events as well as personal ones.

“It talked about the ball teams that they had, developments in the various departments, and it gave a lot of information about personal milestones like birthdays and how long people had worked at Chatham,” said Martha Smith, head librarian at the Elkin Public Library.

“Jason has given us this seed collection of several hundred copies, and he and I have gone through and we have a list of what we have and what we need,” said Smith.

“I’ve got a place here that we can lock them up so we can keep them here at the library if people want to come look at them,” she said.

Members of the library want to enlarge this collection with the goal of compiling a complete set of issues. They invite the community members looking for a new home for their Blanketeer copies to call the library if they’re interested in donating them for preservation. Especially needed are the Blanketeers from the years prior to 1960.

“What we really need are the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s. The older, the more needy we are for them,” said Smith.

“What people can do is bring what they have and if they want to just give them to us wholesale we’ll take them and see what can fill in an empty spot. Then if they would like the excess back we will give them back to them,” she said.

Smith said the donations would make a very welcome addition to the Library’s collection.

“People are interested in the history of the town and this is an original source. It has incredible amounts about the people in the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s. It is just a good firsthand source of information that the library does not have.”

Please call Martha Smith at the Elkin Public Library, 336-835-5586, if you are interested in participating in the project.