Background

The New York City newsboys were a group of young, often male, child laborers, who were also quite commonly orphans. Newsboys' ages ranged quite a bit, for example one of the leaders of the strike we will be talking about, Dave Simions, was 8 when he started selling newspapers, but was 21 at the time of the strike. We will be focusing on the newsboys in service in New York City in 1899. A newsboy’s daily routine consisted of buying a bundle of 100 newspapers for 50 cents then selling them throughout the day across the city and on street corners for a penny a piece. So everyday, a newsboy’s goal was to sell a minimum of 50 papers, so that they could buy another bundle the next day. They had to sell more than 50 before they started making a slow profit, 1 penny at a time. Now 50 cents may not seem like a lot to us nowadays, but back then in that time period to the newsies it meant quite a bit. So everyday the newsboys would go out and sell newspapers.

Newsboys and newsgirls getting papers. Lewis Hine. Circa. July 1910