Source: YURI CORTEZ / Getty
For many years in the projects of Danville, Virginia, my family and I supplied the neighborhood with daily newspapers. We carried newspapers 7 days a week for many many years. So today is very special to me because I can relate to what it was like being a newspaper carrier.
National Newspaper Carrier Day on September 4th recognizes the dedicated newspaper carriers who deliver the news in the wee hours of the morning.
While the routine of the newspaper carrier has changed over the years, they still exist in some form. The average ages have changed, too, since the dawn of the first paper carrier. And perhaps, the delivery methods have changed. However, they all owe their start to an enterprising young immigrant in New York City over 180 years ago. As the tradition gradually fades, their history becomes no less fascinating.
According to a captioned photo released by the Museum of the City of New York, The Sun’s publisher Benjamin Day hired the first paperboy on Septemeber 4, 1833. 10-year-old Barney Flaherty answered the advertisement that September day although the ad specified that “steady men” could apply. Benjamin Day was so impressed by the boy’s sincerity, he gave him the job.
Down on the corner, Flaherty could soon be heard hawking his sales pitch. Eventually, a universal chorus of boys (and sometimes girls) calling, “Paper! Get your paper, here!” could be heard on the streets selling papers.
In 1960, The Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame was created to acknowledge some famous newspaper carriers in our nation’s history. Included in the Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame are Martin Luther King Jr., Warren Buffet and John Wayne.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NewspaperCarrierDay
Show your newspaper carrier a little extra appreciation. A box of chocolates, a card or a simple “thank you” would make their day a little brighter. Enjoy the ease that we have in being able to wake up, get our coffee and have a paper to read before getting out of our pajamas!
If you were a newspaper carrier, take the day to reminisce a bit. Share stories from your delivery routes and the people you knew then.
Use #NewspaperCarrierDay to post on social media.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER CARRIER DAY HISTORY
We were unable to identify the founder of National Newspaper Carrier Day. However, the day does commemorate the day Flaherty landed the job and made it a success.
source: National Day Calendar
