A Reddit user noticed recently that the exact same black-and-white newspaper prop has turned up in dozens of commercials, movies, and TV shows — including such diverse programs as Married With Children , Modern Family , Everybody Hates Chris , and Desperate Housewives . (…)
Brow Beat has learned that the prop comes from a small newspaper prop company called the Earl Hays Press in Sun Valley, Calif. Started in 1915, Earl Hays is one of the oldest newspaper prop companies, and the paper in question was first printed in the 1960s (note the top-hat ad on the lower left), then offered as a “period paper,” better suited for Mad Men (where it has not appeared) than Scrubs (where it has).
