Page 18 - All About History - Issue 18-14

Mass Media

FLATCAP GIFTOFTHEGAB

THE TRADEMARK ACCESSORY BE LOUD AND PROUD
Thisflat,roundcaphasreceivedaboostinrecentpopularity,butduring
Thephrase‘Extra!Extra!Readall
thelate-19thcenturythehatwascommonlywornby‘newsies’andwas
aboutit!’washeardyelledallover
associatedcloselywiththeworkingclass.Thehatwascommonlywornby
the streets of 19th-century America
farmers, beggars, criminals, dockworkers and other tradesmen.
into the early hours. Because there
were so many poor boys looking
to sell their stock, competition
was fierce, so the paperboy’s voice
becamehisweapon.Thenewsiewho
could attract the buyers by yelling
THE outheadlineswouldoftenearn
Anatomy enoughtoeatthatnight.
of

19TH-CENTURY

NEWSPAPERBOY

THE HUMBLE BEGINNINGS OF MASS
COMMUNICATION, NEW YORK, 1800s

COINPURSE

AN EMPTY PURSE EQUALS AN EMPTY STOMACH
Mostnewsieswereorphanswhosoldnewspapers
to survive. They were charged 67 cents to buy NEWSPAPERS
100copiesandiftheysoldalloftheirpapersthey
wouldtypicallymakeaprofitof33cents.They NEWS FOR A PENNY
couldn’t return their dead stock so they worked
diligently to sell them all in a trade that became The‘newsiesbreadand
butter’, The New York Sun
knownas‘hustlingthesheets.’
wasthefirstpennypaper
–establishedin1833–and
THICKCOAT the young workers would
gather in the early hours
at Newspaper Row in
PROTECTION FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD Manhattan to collect their
stock. TheChicagoTribune
Risingearlyandstayinguplate,newsboysweresubjectedtothe
and The New York Times
harshestweatherallyearlong,soathickcoatwasanessential
alsogottheirstartinthe
garment. The newsies didn’t go to school as it wasn’t legally
mid-19th century, with
requireduntil1919andmostdidnothaveahometoreturnto,so
many Americans reading at
formanytheirouterjacketstheyclutchedaroundthemhadto
leasttwonewspapersaday
provideenoughheattogetthemthroughthelong,coldnights.
inwhatwasagoldenage
for the medium.
WELL-WORNBOOTS
THESE BOOTS HAVE DONE A LOT OF WALKING
Withlimitedchildlabourlawsinplace,conditionsforthenewsieswere
tough.Oftenworkinglongintothenight,thepaperboyswouldbeon
their feet all day, standing on street corners and travelling far from their
neighbourhoodstotryandsellinsaloonsatnight.Manyofthesuffering
© The Art Agency
orphans did not even possess shoes.

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