Flash newspapers were a type of “underground newspaper” that catered to people interested in reading about or participating in illicit activities, like gambling, prostitution, and other forms of often-illegal vice. Flash newspapers were rarely collected by libraries, and were often published and circulated secretly, so as to avoid detection by law-enforcement. This bibliography lists flash newspapers that are known to exist in at least one copy. Some of the titles are included based on evidence from auxiliary sources of information, and may not have been examined directly by the bibliographer.
Albany
Albany and New-York switch.
Albany, N.Y. : John New
The Albany microscope.
Albany, N.Y. : [publisher not identifeid]
Albany switch.
Albany [N.Y.] : John New
The microscope.
Albany [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified], 1824-
The Prophylactical star.
Albany, N.Y. : M.B. La Croix
Boston
The Boston blade.
Boston, Mass. : [W.L. Bradbury]
The Boston blade.
Boston, Ms. : [publisher not identified], 1848-
Boston satirist.
[Boston, Mass.] : James M. Baker, 1842-
Boston satirist and punch.
Boston [Mass.] : [publisher not identified]
The criminal life.
Boston [Mass.] : E.G. Wilkins, editor and proprietor, 1858-
The hangman.
Boston [Mass.] : Charles Spear
Life in Boston.
Boston [Mass.] : Hiram Jones, 1857-
Life in Boston and New England police gazette.
Boston [Mass.] : Wm. Berry & Co.
Life in Boston and New York.
Boston [Mass.] : Samuel K. Head
Life in Boston, sporting chronicle, and lights and shadows of New England morals.
Boston [Mass.] : Berry & Wright
New England police gazette.
Boston [Mass.] : William Evans
The satirist.
Boston [Mass.] : Printed and published at 26 Exchange Street, (up stairs)
Satirist and blade.
Boston, Mass. : William L. Bradbury
The Satirist and Boston punch or Charivari.
Boston [Mass.] : Published every Saturday morning at no. 20 Exchange Street
Satirist & punch.
Boston, Mass. : Printed for the proprietor by W.L. Bradbury
The weekly varieties.
Boston [Mass.] : Matthew Ward, 1859-
Chicago
Chicago by day and night : the pleasure seeker’s guide to the Paris of America.
Chicago, Ill. : Thomson and Zimmerman, 1892.
The Chicago sporting gazette.
Chicago, Ill. : R.H. Andrews
The Chicago street gazette.
Chicago, Ill. : [s.n.], 1874-
Night life in Chicago.
[Chicago, Illinois] : Maury Kahn, 1952-
The sporting and club house directory, Chicago, containing a full and complete list of all strictly first class club and sporting houses.
Chicago : Ross & St. Clair, Publishers, 1889.
The sporting life.
Chicago, Ill. : R.H. Andrews
Cincinnati
Western police gazette.
Cincinnati, [Ohio] : [publisher not identified], 1849-
Manchester, N.H.
The gleaner.
Manchester, N.H. : S.H. Brown & P. White, 1842-1846.
The Manchester spy.
Manchester, N.H. : W. Newell Haradon, 1850-1851.
Manchester tele-scope.
Manchester, N.H. : Haradon and Kieley
The telescope.
Manchester, N.H. : Haradon and Kieley, 1848.
New York
The Broadway belle.
[New York, N.Y.] :[publisher not identified]
The Broadway belle, and mirror of the times.
New-York [N.Y.] : P.F. Harris, 1855-
The Broadway dandy.
New York [N.Y.] : Philemon Doesticks, A.B.C. and L.M.N.O.P.Q., 1855-
The Broadway omnibus : a panorama of metropolitan life.
New York [N.Y.] : [C.P. Britton]
The Critic, and New-York theatrical register.
New-York [N.Y.] : [G.W. Dixon], 1838-
Dixon’s polyanthos.
[New York, N.Y.] : Bowery News Office
Ely’s hawk & buzzard, or New-York, & Brooklyn courier & enquirer.
New York [N.Y.] : Johannes Vanderdecken,
Ely’s hawk and buzzard, or New-York, Saturday courier and enquirer.
New-York [N.Y.] : Johannes Vanderdecken, 1832-
Evening signal.
[New York, N.Y.] : J. Winchester, 1839-
Evening star, New-York, Brooklyn courier and enquirer or Hawk and buzzard.
[New York, N.Y.] : J.W. Ely, 1833-
Evening tattler.
New York [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified]
Flash.
New York [N.Y.] : Scorpion, Startle & Sly, 1841-1843.
Hawk and buzzard.
New-York [N.Y.] : Johannes Vanderdecken, Junior, 1829-
The libertine.
New York [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified] , 1842-
Life in New-York.
New York [N.Y.] : Mattice & Van Fleet, 1849-
The Monthly cosmopolite.
New York [N.Y.] : Prentiss, Clarke & Co., 1849-
National police gazette.
New York [N.Y.] : Camp & Wilkes, 1845-
The New York arena.
New York [N.Y.] : Thomas L. Nichols, 1842-1843.
The New York Aurora.
New York [N.Y.] : Herrick and Ropes, 1842-
New-York flagellator, and police bulletin.
New-York [N.Y.] : [L.K. Graham], 1828-
New York pick.
New York [N.Y.] : Joseph A. Scoville
The New York scorpion and Empire City reflector.
New-York [N.Y.] : C.G. Graham, 1848-
The New York sporting whip.
New York [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified], 1843-
New-York weekly Caucasian.
New York, [N.Y.] : Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1861-1863.
New York weekly day-book Caucasian.
New York, [N.Y.] : Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1863-1868.
Nichols’ weekly arena.
New York [N.Y.] : Thomas L. Nichols, 1842-
The pick.
New York [N.Y.] : Joseph A. Scoville, 1852-
The pictorial pick.
New York [N.Y.] : Joseph A. Scoville, 1854-
The owl.
[New York, N.Y.] : [publisher not identified]
The Polyanthos.
New York [N.Y.] : George Washington Dixon, 1838-
The Polyanthos, and Fire Department album.
New York [N.Y.] : [George Washington Dixon], 1838-
The Polyanthos, and New-York visiter.
New York [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified], 1838-
The scrutinizer.
New-York [N.Y.] : Charles N. Baldwin, 1826-
The sportsman.
New-York [N.Y.] : [Colburn & Madison], 1843-
Stephen H. Branch’s alligator.
New York, N.Y. : Excelsior Print., 1858.
Subterranean
New York [N.Y.] : Mike Walsh, 1843-1844.
The Sunday flash.
New York, N.Y. : Scorpion, Startle & Sly, 1841.
The theatrical world.
New York [N.Y.] : [publisher not identified], 1845-
True flash.
New York [N.Y.] : S. Southard, 1841-
Venus’ miscellany.
New-York : Jas. Ramerio & Co., 1856-
The weekly rake.
New York [N.Y.] : T.W. Meighan, 1842-
Weekly whip.
New-York [N.Y.] : Gillen & Co., 1855-
The whip.
New York [N.Y.] : George B. Wooldridge, 1842-1843.
The whip.
New-York [N.Y.] : Gillen & Co., 1855-
The Whip, and satirist of New-York and Brooklyn.
New York [N.Y.] : Colburn, Renshaw & Co., 1841-1842.