Today is newspaper carrier day. This day honors anyone who was ever a carrier. Almost everyone my age knows someone who was once a carrier.
In 1833, The New York Sun advertised for an unemployed person to vend the paper. Ten-year-old Barney Flaherty was hired when he qualified by throwing the paper into the bushes.
Now, the paper is often delivered by being thrown from a car. On cold days, the heat can be turned on; on warm days, the air-conditioning. Garry's first job was as a newspaper carrier, and he had no such comforts, riding his bicycle on such a long route in three Buffalo, NY, winters. Brrrr . . .
technorati tags: newspapercarrier, newsboy, vickisblog
3 comments:
I had the same paperboy for years and years. He would always come to the kitchen door on collection day and I always greeted him with a smile and added a tip and told him what a good job he was doing. He finally was replaced by a driving route. But my paperboy would come and visit a couple times a year and tell us about school and how his life was going. The last time he visited he was planning to get married. Sigh, I sure miss paperboys – paying online just isn’t as much fun.
You always post the most interesting things! :)
AZ,
I miss personal service that once was everywhere. Now, too often, it seems to be impersonal at best. But then, our whole society seems to be moving in an impersonal direction. How sad. What an old grump I am becoming!
LMT,
Thank you. Actually, I bow to you for interest and relevance. Just last week I was overcome with your group's stories of soldiers reintegrating after deployment to Iraq. And I cannot say that is an isolated incident.
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