The prompt image this week is of Western Union bicycle messengers. What caught my eye was that young boy, with bare feet, and it got me thinking of other boys working, in that time period of the early 1900's.
August 1904: Image of a newsboy holding newspapers and standing next to a paper stand on a commercial street in Chicago, Illinois. A pedestrian is visible in the foreground.
From the Chicago Daily News archive, part of American Memory at the Library of Congress.
As this collection points out, selling newspapers was one of the few jobs young boys could get. Some significantly added to their families' income. On the other hand, many of the boys worked on the street instead of going to school, and child labor laws did not exist in this era.
See information about the work and photographs of Lewis Hine for more information.
Still, this photograph is a window into early Chicago. I love the outfit and hat that the woman is wearing!
Viridian
12 comments:
I discovered Lewis Hine this week too. Great photographer.
She Looks Like She's Balancing A Loaf Of Bread On Her Head!
It has been a long time since I have seen a newsstand on the street.
@Tony, can you imagine that if you were on the verge of going out, you had already started your engine and your wife said to you: "Hang on, I'll just have to put on my hat"?
Ah, a newsboy! A storied job.
@Tony, HA - glad you said that because I didn't even notice the hat. Hilarious!
My dad was a newsie from time to time, but his grandmother made sure he went to school. Maybe he did it only in the summer, I don't know.
Lewis Hine is the king of kings for people photos, especially in America! I do think that is a loaf of bread for a hat!
No shelter. What did they do when the weather was bad?
Another great image from Lewis Hine, thank you. There is a great directness of the boy's look at the cameraman, supported by the two onlookers behind him, and in contract to the woman in a fashionable, albeit precariously balanced, hat to the right. What is she carrying, I wonder?
The photograph is wonderful for all sorts of reasons, but particularly for the way that three are so consciously looking into the camera but the woman is consciously avoiding it.
Great day in the life photo ... I wonder what the woman is looking at?
Kathy M.
What a stark contrast the photographer got. I wonder if he meant to show the difference between the beautifully dressed lady and the sad expression of the paper boy who had to work for a living at such an early age. That photo says it all.
Life isn't fair!
Nancy
Post a Comment