Amateur journalism is a hobby for starting small newspapers established after the U.S. Civil War, using small and inexpensive printing presses.
The hobby waxed and waned in the early 20th century, achieving a literary peak under the influence of H. P. Lovecraft and W. Paul Cook in the 1915-1925 period.
The 1930s brought a redevelopment of interest with a mix of fine printing with quality material and crude leaflets from small hand-presses and mimeographs.
Membership in associations has diminished to the hundreds in the United States and Canada and many are elderly as safety rules for motorized presses and hand-setting type have become lost arts.
Retired Tampa Tribune reporter Leland Hawes is an aficionado.