Above is the leftmost column from page 1 of the Chambersburg Valley Spirit for April 17, 1861, announcing the start of the Civil War. Though the single headline of "THE WAR BEGUN" announced the article to follow, twelve additional "decks" of headlines followed before the news items began. Each of these subheadlines had a different typeface or letter size. The onset of the Civil War is obviously an extreme instance of a multidecked headline, but it is an exemplary one.