The Grimsby Evening Telegraph has launched a six-part weekly series of archive newspaper reprints from the 1940s and 1960s.

The idea is to resist the annual drop in newspaper sales during the summer months and also provide a learning resource for local children to fit in with the national curriculum.

The Telegraph has teamed up with the local education department to reprint editions that carried stories on important historical events – which are also being studied in local schools.

The series began with a reprint of the Telegraph from Monday, July 21, 1969, when man first walked on the moon.

Telegraph deputy editor Nigel Lowther said: “The idea for the series originated in the newspaper sales department. We wanted a different way to address the summer drop-off in newspaper sales.

“We have done a couple of reprints before – one of the Queen’s coronation and one on the 50th anniversary of the east coast floods. They were well received so we decided to develop the idea.”

The Telegraph discussed the idea with North East Lincolnshire Council and a local head teacher to decide which six editions would be printed during the summer holidays.

Nearly 900 packs of the complete set of six newspapers have been sold to schools ready for use in the new term in September.

Nigel said: “It’s a win-win situation for us and the education department. We were quite upfront with them about wanting to increase sales and it fits in perfectly with what they want. We’ve hit both goals.

“It’s terrific added value for the paper. We’ve had very good feedback – people enjoy looking at the old ads as well as the stories as you can see the lifestyle changes that have taken place.

“We held a meeting with the education department about three months ago and since then we’ve had an extensive marketing campaign advertising it. The newspaper sales team and editorial team have been working together closely for the benefit of all.”

Old editions of the Telegraph had to be obtained from Grimsby Central Library. The production process then involves the plates for printing being produced by the Telegraph’s sister paper, the Lincolnshire Echo.

Future reprints will cover the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, the so-called “Night of the Long Knives” when prime minister Harold Macmillan sacked six of his cabinet in 1962, the D-Day landings in 1944, the Vietnam War in 1965 and the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968.

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