Figure 1.--This drawing shows a Manchester newsboy from 1905. Please note the boy’s arrogant stance and the cigarette is purposely suggesting premature adulthood from a child actually working. Also the newspaper headline about murder is exposing him to unsavoury sensationalism. I'm not sure who the illustrator was. The drawing, however, looks very similar to an actual photograph.

The most common boy street traders sold newspapers. It must have been especially difficult to enforce the street trading regulations on news boys. We note large number of photographs of boys selling newspapers. The illustration here shows a newspaper boy plying his trade in Lancaster in 1905 (figure 1). The newboys of the 19th and early 20th century sold their newspapers on street corners. Later in the mid 20th century, boys were allowed to have home dlivery routes. This seems to have been an exception to child labor laws.

Street Sales

The most common boy street traders sold newspapers. We do not have many images from the 18th and early-19th century. Thanks to photography, we do have images from the late-19th century. It must have been especially difficult to enforce the street trading regulations on news boys. We note a large number of photographs of boys selling newspapers. It is not always clear, however, just where they are selling. The illustration here shows a newspaper boy plying his trade in Lancaster in 1905 (figure 1). The newboys of the 19th and early 20th century sold their newspapers on street corners. I believe that there were also newsboys in England. We have seen images of boys selling newspapers in England. It seems to us that many English images show men selling newspapers, more so than in America. There may be a time factor here. I think before World War I (1914-18) boys selling newspapers on the stree were fairly common. After the War we mostly see men. Child labor and school attendance laws may be a factor here. And these laws may have affected how newspapers were sold. School attendance laws would have nade it difficult for boys to sell from street corners because of the time factor, but they would not hve precl;uded pper routes before or after school.

Home Deliveries

Later in the mid 20th century, boys were allowed to have home dlivery routes. This seems to have been an exception to child labor laws, but there were restrictions. We do note boys with paper routes in England, but again do not believe that this was as common as in America. Those of us who enjoy "Keeping Up Appearances" will recall Hyicinth Bucket's newsboys who had to clean out his ears. An English reader tells us, We still have newsboys and girls here in the UK, although not as many as there used to be. These days they all carry their wares in bags made of high visibility materials for reasons of safety. The newsagents who still deliver by this method regard the newsboys and girls as the lifeblood of their businesses. In American films, newsboys are always depicted as throwing the papers onto the porches as near to the door as they can aim. Whether or not this is just a bit of male bravado for the film I know not, but in the UK the papers are always put through the letter boxes in the front doors. A British newsboy or girl throwing the papers at the front door would be regarded as rude, and he or she would probably be dismissed." [HBC note: Yes in fact it was fairly common for Anerican paper boys to do so. Sunscribers did not complain as long as his aim was good.] A HBC reader tells us about his paper route. He was primarily interested in earning pocket money to buy trendy clothes. A reader in the 1970s reports that You had to be at least 13 years old. One English reader, Bill, tells us about his expeiences as a newspaper delivery boy.

Created: February 14, 2004
Last updated: 10:59 PM 2/24/2007