#198: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Louis' iconic only newspaper deservedly gets a cake, and appropriately enough, with the little weatherbird on there! By only, I mean it is the sole remaining printed daily newspaper in St. Louis. There have been other newspapers in St. Louis and still are today, but nothing like the Post-Dispatch. Yes, at one time, there was competition. Remember the St. Louis Sun? Despite of the continuing decline of printed newspapers, the Post-Dispatch is still one of the largest in circulation in the Midwest. They do manage to keep up with the times; that is, with its online alter ego, STLtoday.com. The website is always the premier first look at what's going on all over St. Louis.

The weatherbird, featured on the cake, is the oldest, continuing cartoon in the United States. It is usually shown on the bottom of the front page with the weather forecast. It debuted on February 11, 1901 by Harry Martin. Albert Schweitzer first drew the bird in color in 1981.

The big building where the job and the writing gets done

Something you'll find all over the city

The front entrance

• Founded in 1878 by Joseph Pulitzer.
• Newspapers before the P-D were the St. Louis Dispatch (founded 15 years before) and the St. Louis Post, which was only 3 years old. They were merged when the two went bankrupt.
• Pulitzer wanted a liberal theme, and focused on issues such as political corruption. Today it covers both conservative and liberal views.
• Two more generations of Pulitzers ran the paper, years after Joseph's death in 1911.
• Previous locations of the Post-Dispatch include 111 North Broadway (1878-1882) and 513-515 Market Street (1882-1888). It was also at one time located on Olive Street. 
• Originally an afternoon newspaper, it switched to morning in 1984.
• Popular columnists include Bill McClellan, Bernie Miklasz and Brian Burwell (sports) and Kevin Johnson (music/nightlife)

Right side of the cake

Back side of the cake

Left side of the cake

NOTE: The former Olive location was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STL-Today on FB
Wikipedia link
Official website

900 N. Tucker Blvd., ST. LOUIS, MO, 63101
Cake artist: Dan Martin