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25 vintage photos of newspaper boys that show how differently we used to get our news
Newspaper boys were once an everyday part of life — without them, people literally wouldn't have been able to get their news for the day.
While there's no limit to the amount of news an individual can consume today, newspaper boys played pivotal roles in some of history's biggest moments — they were sought out for the information that they, and they alone could provide.
Here are some historical photos of how people used to get their news that make us long for the simpler times.
Back in the day, the newspaper was the only way people could get their news.
Today, most people get their news from TV or online.
When a momentous historical moment occurred, the first place people turned to was their local paper.
The newspaper was a huge part of everyone's lives, kids and adults alike.
Many young boys worked selling newspapers.
Benjamin Franklin is sometimes known as "the first American newsboy," because he helped deliver his brother's newspaper, the "New England Courant," in 1721.
They went door to door...
Or stood in populated areas to deliver the news each day.
Some newspapers, such as the "New York Sun," would put out ads looking for men to vend their papers, but since wages were so low they ended up hiring groups of boys, paying them around $2 a week.
They had different methods for peddling papers.
Boys could peddle papers from one spot or build out subscription routes — the more they sold, the more they could earn.
Some would buy newspapers from publishers and sell them independently...
In the 1800s, during a period of economic depression, there were so many boys out selling papers that "newsboys" were often instead thought of as "street waifs."
While others were paid by the publishers themselves to sell them.
Being a paper boy wasn't an easy job.
Newspapers were thick and heavy.
They had to sell papers no matter the weather...
Rain or shine, the public needed their news, and newsboys needed their wages.
And they had to deliver information to the public on some of the world's biggest events.
Newspaper boys were responsible for announcing wars...
The number of newspaper boys rose during war times.
Or that the draft was taking place.
Paper boys were messengers, often running through the streets to give civilians the most pressing information.
Sometimes, they had to announce breaking news during dangerous times.
But being a newspaper boy had its exciting moments.
In this instance in 1949, a 15-year-old paperboy named Donald Olson went to London to deliver copies of the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune to the Lord Mayor of London, US ambassador Lewis Douglas, and Winston Churchill. The newspaper was celebrating its move to new offices by delivering its paper around the world.
Some lucky newspaper boys got to sell papers to celebrities.
Carl Rupp is pictured selling a newspaper to film actor William Halnes on the MGM studio lot around 1927.
And some got the opportunity to work behind the counter of a newsstand.
Not all newspaper boys were boys.
Sometimes unemployed men took jobs peddling papers for a little extra cash.
Some were older...
And some were newspaper girls.
Some places, like Canada, prohibited girls from selling papers, and boys had to be licensed, wear badges, and attend school.
The more was going on, the more newspaper boys you'd see around.
The Civil War, for example, saw a large increase in newsboys, so much so that they became a "noticeable feature about town" in Detroit.
Newspaper boys played a key role in informing the public of some of the biggest headlines for a long time.
Newsboys worked hard to make sure people got their news as fast as possible.
Today, most people get their news online or on TV.
But back in the day, being a newspaper boy was an important, and honorable profession.
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