My uncle Tom was 14 years old when he got his first job as a newspaper boy. His friend Andre was already a paper boy for the local newspaper in Queens, so my uncle decided he would give it a shot. He got paid $30 per week to deliver approximately 150 afternoon newspapers to his neighborhood. I’ve heard this story a couple times from my uncle and mom, (who was probably trying to allude to the fact that I should get a job myself).
The number of paper boys has declined rapidly in recent years. This is primarily due to the disappearance of afternoon newspapers, whose delivery times were suitable for young boys who would just get out of class. Morning papers were typically delivered before 6am and so they were managed by older men who made careers out of it.
The number of paper boys has reduced dramatically as a result of the introduction of the internet. Now, almost every news story is available almost instantly once you use your browser to enter the world wide web. People are opting for instant satisfaction and knowledge, things are happening quicker then they did in years past.
Newspaper industry lore suggests that the first paperboy, hired in 1833, was 10-year-old Irish immigrant, Barney Flaherty, who answered an advertisement in the New York Sun which read “To the Unemployed a number of steady men can find employment by vending this paper.” For Barney, and my Uncle Tom, being a paper boy wasn’t just a first job. It was a turning point for them, where they learned the values of responsibility, work and independence.
References:
http://howwedrive.com/2011/02/04/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-american-paperboy/
http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2382.htm
http://www.papercarrierusa.com
Photo by Lewis Wickes Hine
Gone Jobs 