“The Aquarium News”

An apparently unrecorded 1878 weekly publication of the Charles Reiche and Brother New York Aquarium.

The various publications produced by 19th Century public aquaria offer a good source of historical information relating to various aspects of their management and the variety of aquatic creatures under their care. The New York Aquarium which operated between 1876 and 1881 in New York City is no exception and this institution published a good number of high-quality interesting and educational works. Initially, the aquarium, which opened in October, was under the ownership of the circus great W. C. Coup and animal and bird dealers Charles and Henry Reiche. In late 1877 this partnership was formally dissolved, and the Reiche Brothers (usually listed as Charles Reiche and Bro.) became the sole proprietors. But Coup retained a very close relationship with the brothers, including maintaining an office and a mailing address at the aquarium. More information on this situation will be covered in an article next month relating to Coup’s Travelling Aquarium as an important part of his New United Monster Shows roadshow.

In any case, when the aquarium opened, a publication (dated October 11, 1876) noted to be semi-monthly and edited by W. S. Ward, was ready to go. On the cover, this publication is titled “New York Aquarium Journal And Guide”.  On the masthead of page one, the given title is “New York Aquarium Journal”. To further confuse things, at the top of each page (for this, and the subsequent nine issues) is printed “The New York Aquarium Journal”. I guess that an argument could be made for the use of either of these designations, but probably the second one (or possibly the third) would be my choice. In any case, this is a large-sized publication – approximately 24.4 by 14.9 inches – consisting of a cover and eight pages. In all, 10 issues noted as Volume One and numbered one through 10, were published in this format. The last issue was dated May 1877. It should also be noted that no issue was published in February. These well-illustrated (artwork) and article-packed publications were apparently available as handouts for customers of the aquarium. But one-year subscriptions were also available. In the first issue, it is noted that the price for this was 50 cents! From the second issue onward, this was increased to $1.00 (in terms of today’s money these prices would be the equivalent of $13.85 and $27.69). This publication has been widely discussed over the decades, usually at least as it’s being called the first aquarium magazine. In current times it is available on the internet and well worth both a casual look over or a more in-depth perusal depending on your level of interest. Copies of the set can be found on both Archive.org and Biodiversity.org.

With the demise of the large format volumes noted above was the immediate introduction of a smaller-sized magazine also edited by Ward. This is titled “The Aquarium Journal” and consists of 16 pages plus covers in a 9 ¼ by 6 ¾ inch format. New articles and smaller pieces on various aquarium inhabitants were included. Some pages of advertisements were also present, and these included some for the aquarium itself. Interestingly, among the advertisements, a page listing all the fishes in the various tanks is also included. These lists, though similar, do vary in the available tank inhabitants in the two copies of this magazine that I have available for review. The first of these is noted to be “Vol. 1-New Series, Number 1” and is dated “June 1877.” The second available copy is also in the New Series and is dated “Sept. 1877” and it is noted to be “Number 4.” I have found very little information on this small-sized version of “The Aquarium Journal.” One contemporary note spoke well of the new format finding it “…for the better.” (An editorial in the July 16, 1877 issue of “Fancier’s Journal And Land & Water”, page 135).  I have found this series to be quite rare. The two copies of this journal that I have reviewed are in the library of the MOAPH. For this, I am thankful in that I have been unable to locate additional copies from any other sources. Lastly, I will note that this series appears to have been short-lived. In the September issue (Number 4) Ward notes in an editorial that he has left the aquarium and that the Journal will not be continued.

And this now brings us to the New York Aquarium publication titled “The Aquarium News” of which there is a copy of below. This has been my “White Whale” for a couple of decades. I have constantly searched the internet and dived into more databases than I care to think about and come up with nothing to match or provide information on, this one publication that I have in my collection. Gary, at MOAPH, thinks that he may have a copy in the museum’s library, but as this is being written he has yet to lay his hands on it. The source of my copy goes back almost 50 years when it was found mixed in with a batch of old sheet music that had been discarded by a major east coast library. It came into my possession about 24 years ago and has resided there since…with me always looking to find out more about it. Maybe someone reading this can possibly help with this…please! Gary is still looking so hopefully that may also come to fruition. This page size of this piece is right on with the large dimensions of the first publication noted herein. This piece is in the form of a single folded sheet to make a presentation of four pages. The paper is of a soft acid-based type that literally falls apart with handling. In the copy below you can note that just being folded in half over the years had split it into sections (this way when I obtained it). The Reiche brothers were the owners of the aquarium at publication and Herman C. Dorner the manager (and editor of this publication).  Dorner had come to the aquarium after serving as the head of the Hamburg Aquarium in Germany. I have backtracked the date based on the information on page one below and that would make the initial publication date of this title April 13, 1878. It is noted to be distributed daily, so I assume that it was a no charge item at the aquarium. As with the first two titles a yearly subscription was available at a price of $1.00 (an equivalent of $29.63 – inflation!). Interesting, on page three, is another noted volume number (11) as regards to the Sea-Side Aquarium. Backtracking the date would make the first mention of this to be June 15^th, which was about one month after its initial opening. This facility was open to the public, for a fee of course, but it also served as a holding facility for fishes and animals destined for the main city-based aquarium and/or for sale to other localities (including overseas). Included in this issue is a comprehensive listing of the inhabitants of the tanks in the New York facility on pages two and three. These are descriptive and quite well written. The publication appears well supported by various advertisement. My personal favorite is for the Aquarium Lager Beer Saloon. Had I been around back in the day, that would have been a nice follow up after a lengthy aquarium visit.

So, for now I can only bring this latter, previously unrecorded, publication to the reader’s attention. My research in this area will continue and hopefully the publication of a copy of it might go towards helping to bring forth some additional information. Such information would surely include the question of what the New York Aquarium was providing as written information to its patrons in the time period between the last issue of “The Aquarium Journal [New Series]” in September of 1877 and the beginning of “The Aquarium News” in April of 1878. Could this have consisted of just a simple publication listing the various tanks and their inhabitants? Or a yet as unknown, other publication (or publications)? Certainly, a single sheet listing approach (especially if done on acid-based paper) would potentially create an even more ephemeral document less likely to survive the intervening of almost a Century and a half.

The W. C. Coup and Reiche Brothers New York Aquarium and the subsequent Charles Reiche and Brother continuation of it has over its time span received generally very good coverage. But it is obvious that there are many aspects requiring additional research and a more comprehensive approach to such studies especially in its later years as the aquarium became less and less of an “aquarium” and more of a theater and indoor circus of sorts. The ending of the aquarium deserves to be told as much as the beginning and the middle. It is all a part of history. This, plus a full table of other research areas, lies in my future and I, through the graces of the MOAPH, shall forge ahead with them. As always, I would be happy to communicate with others having the same, or similar, interests.

Lastly, I would like to offer my thanks to Gary Bagnall, the Director of the MOAPH, for his invaluable help both with this article and his general enthusiastic support over many years.