5:30 A.M. Emma and her brother starting out to sell and peddle before school. They sell after school and on Saturday and Sunday also. Albert is 10 years old and been at it 1 year. Emma is 11 years old. She and Paul have been at it 2 years. Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, newspaper publishers relied on newspaperboys (“newsies”) to distribute their newspapers on city streets. The newsboys purchased their papers and usually had to sell all of them to make a decent profit. In 1899, with a sudden rise in the cost of newspapers, a contingent of New York City newsies staged a strike against big-time publishers like Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.