What did Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Wayne, and Martin Luther King all have in common?
They were all former paper boys.
Long before the newspaper industry went into decline, the newspaper delivery boy disappeared, and that is a shame.
Not only from a nostalgic perspective, but a newspaper route gave a kid a certain amount of independence, and above all it taught the importance of taking responsibility.
Once a youngster had taken on the job, a commitment had been made and there were an awful lot of individuals relying on this young bicycle courier for their daily paper.
There were many reasons the newspaper boy disappeared. Fear by parents for the youngster’s safety, changing child labor laws, school classes starting earlier, etc., etc.
There was hardly a Hollywood movie made up until the 1970s, set in suburban America, that didn’t include a scene where a newspaper boy is riding his bike, and throwing newspapers somewhere in the approximation of the front porch.
Strange thing is, I occasionally see a newspaper boy depicted in a TV commercial, are there still any out there; has anyone seen a real one lately?
It occurred to me that a lot of readers that visit here are ex-newspaper boys or girls, and maybe for some that’s how interest in cycling began.
I thought it would be interesting to hear some of your experiences, and to know how long ago that was. Kind of like a survey to find when and why the newspaper boy went into decline.
They were all former paper boys.
Long before the newspaper industry went into decline, the newspaper delivery boy disappeared, and that is a shame.
Not only from a nostalgic perspective, but a newspaper route gave a kid a certain amount of independence, and above all it taught the importance of taking responsibility.
Once a youngster had taken on the job, a commitment had been made and there were an awful lot of individuals relying on this young bicycle courier for their daily paper.
There were many reasons the newspaper boy disappeared. Fear by parents for the youngster’s safety, changing child labor laws, school classes starting earlier, etc., etc.
There was hardly a Hollywood movie made up until the 1970s, set in suburban America, that didn’t include a scene where a newspaper boy is riding his bike, and throwing newspapers somewhere in the approximation of the front porch.
Strange thing is, I occasionally see a newspaper boy depicted in a TV commercial, are there still any out there; has anyone seen a real one lately?
It occurred to me that a lot of readers that visit here are ex-newspaper boys or girls, and maybe for some that’s how interest in cycling began.
I thought it would be interesting to hear some of your experiences, and to know how long ago that was. Kind of like a survey to find when and why the newspaper boy went into decline.