Newsies: The Boys Who Sold the News Made the News
Hine snapped a photo of these boys, Tony Passaro (8), Dan Mercurio (9), Joseph Tucci (10), and John Carlino (11). They sold newspapers on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington DC. These newspaper sellers, usually boys and sometimes a mere five or six years old, had the nickname “Newsies.” Newsies bought their bundle of newspapers in the morning at their own expense.
They resold them on city street corners to earn the money back. In order to make a profit, they usually had to sell their entire bundle of papers. In 1899, the cost of the papers rose, a price increase that caused great strain on the newsies income. The newsies in New York led a strike, winning some demands from the newspaper publishers, who relied on them for marketing and distribution. The Newsies were a collective labor force to be reckoned with, despite their early age.
