In the 19th century, mourning practices in the United States were deeply structured and ceremonial, governing social interactions, fashion, and grieving customs. Amid these strict norms, newspaper editors adhered to a unique mourning tradition.
During periods of public bereavement–such as the passing of a notable politician, military officer, or publisher–the editor engaged in a practice known as “turning the rules.” Although this tradition is no longer observed, it often grabs the attention of researchers studying old publications, and its historical significance remains intriguing.
When a prominent individual passed, the newspaper sought to announce the death and convey collective sorry. The work to make this happen occurred in the composing room, where the pages of the paper took shape as the compositors turned the rules. These column rules typically created white space between columns of text on a page.
But once the paper was in mourning, they displayed their grief with dark printers’ ink between the columns by reversing the rules. As the pages came off the press, the normal rules—white spacing separating columns of text– framed with heavy black bands of ink, creating a visual tribute to the departed. These dark bands conveyed grief, signaling to readers that the publication mourned the loss of a significant figure.((Edmund C. Arnold, “Designing the Total Newspaper,” 1981, Harper & Row Publishers: New York.))
Don Herring, a newspaper editor who began his career with the Indianapolis Star in Indiana after the Korean War, introduced me to this old practice. The turned rules, once an expression of mourning by journalists, now reside in the annals of newspaper history–a journalist’s tradition from a bygone era.