Hawking newspapers in the 19th century was hard work. Rather than working for the newspaper itself, a newsboy—usually a kid or young teen from a poor family, often homeless himself—had to buy copies of the paper from the publisher, then sell them independently.
An estimated 10,000 newsboys worked the streets of New York City. Publishers wouldn’t buy back unsold copies of their papers, which made it tough for a kid to eke out a profit.
Newsboys plying their trade on the Brooklyn Bridge. Those bundles look heavy.
In 1899, the Evening World and Evening Journal started charging newsboys 60 cents for a hundred copies of their papers, a hike from 50 cents. Pissed off, thousands of newsboys went on strike. They held protests all over Manhattan and got into fights with men and boys hired by the papers as replacement workers.
But the strike worked. After a few weeks of gloating media coverage in other New York City papers, the publishers scaled back the price hike.
Tags: child labor in the 19th century, Joseph Pulitzer, New York City child labor, New York Herald, New York World, Newsboys in New York City, newsies, William Randolph Hearst
October 26, 2009 at 12:44 pm |
‘eke’ out a profit, not ‘eek’. no mice seen here.
October 26, 2009 at 2:12 pm |
Thanks–I fixed it.
October 26, 2009 at 2:41 pm |
concerted action by the workers. why, even kids used to know that!
October 26, 2009 at 5:31 pm |
[...] fascinating look at the newsboy strike of 1899. When publishers hiked the rate from $.50 to $.60, newsboys throughout the city went on strike. [...]
November 11, 2009 at 6:51 am |
I think new york and the history surrounding it is fascinating, thanks for your all your work!
November 15, 2009 at 3:40 pm |
Thanx for this post. We’ve translated into russian http://revsoc.org/archives/2956