Paperboy
Encyclopedia
A paperboy is the general name for a person employed by a newspaper
, They are often used around the office to run low end errands. They make copies and distribute them. Paperboys traditionally were and are still often portrayed on television and movies as preteen
boys, often on a bicycle
. Today, with the latest child labor laws most paper boys are aged 13 or over.
, USA, Canada
, Australia
, New Zealand
, Ireland
, and Japan
. This is because it has long been the first paying job available to young teenagers, often male.
Despite that, the number of paperboys has declined greatly. This is due partly to the disappearance of afternoon newspapers, whose delivery times worked better for school-aged children than did those of morning papers which were typically delivered before 6 a.m. The numbers have also been affected by changing demographics, the availability of news and newspapers on the internet, employment laws and concern about the safety of un-escorted children, all of which have led many newspapers to switch to delivery by adults. Today, they are mainly used by weekly community newspaper
s and free shopper papers, which still tend to be delivered in the afternoons. Alternatively, sometimes paperboys are only employed once a week to deliver the paper on Sunday.
Newspaper industry lore suggests that the first paperboy, hired in 1833, was 10-year-old Barney Flaherty who answered an advertisement in the New York Sun
, which read "To the Unemployed a number of steady men can find employment by vending this paper."
. This is typically done by writing a Christmas card to each of the customers on the round and, in many cases, the customers will respond by leaving a "Christmas Box" or a "tip" (cash) as a gift. Customers may of course choose to leave tips and gifts out at any time of the year.
For paperboys using a bike, and the typical paper-round bag - in the UK a luminous, waterproof coloured bag with a single strap - the papers (chiefly at the weekend) are collectively very heavy and/or thick, meaning that often on a Saturday or a Sunday the round has to be split and completed in two halves. The worst "culprits" in the UK are the Daily Telegraph on a Saturday and the Sunday Telegraph; The Sunday Times and The Observer (which is small but thick).
The early depictions of paperboys on bikes throwing papers into gardens is no longer prevalent as most houses now have a letterbox on the front door and gardens are not easily accessible from the streets.
Arnold Bennett
's 1911 novel The Card
features a newspaper take-over. Part of the success of the stratagem depends on the proprietor temporarily detaining all his rival's paperboys, which he does by promising them food and locking them in. The paperboys are depicted as a rumbustious and tight-knit group.
Tony Macaulay's memoir 'Paperboy' (2010) tells the experiences of a paperboy in West Belfast in the 1970s.
Bob Thurber's 'Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel' (2011) tells the experiences of a 14-year-old paperboy and his emotionally troubled sister during the summer of 1969.
Newsies
, a 1992 musical film, directed by Kenny Ortega
, is about the Newsboys Strike of 1899
.
Better Off Dead 1985 movie features a paperboy on a bicycle that throws a newspaper through a closed window breaking the window glass. There are several paperboys in this movie.
In the 2001 Disney film, Max Keeble's Big Move
, the film's protagonist is a local paperboy.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, They are often used around the office to run low end errands. They make copies and distribute them. Paperboys traditionally were and are still often portrayed on television and movies as preteen
Preteen
Preadolescence is a stage of human development following early childhood and prior to adolescence. It may be defined as ending with the beginning of puberty or with the beginning of the teenage stage, the time frames in which adolescence is considered to begin. In terms of age in years,...
boys, often on a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
. Today, with the latest child labor laws most paper boys are aged 13 or over.
History
The position of paperboy occupies a prominent place in many countries including the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. This is because it has long been the first paying job available to young teenagers, often male.
Despite that, the number of paperboys has declined greatly. This is due partly to the disappearance of afternoon newspapers, whose delivery times worked better for school-aged children than did those of morning papers which were typically delivered before 6 a.m. The numbers have also been affected by changing demographics, the availability of news and newspapers on the internet, employment laws and concern about the safety of un-escorted children, all of which have led many newspapers to switch to delivery by adults. Today, they are mainly used by weekly community newspaper
Weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
s and free shopper papers, which still tend to be delivered in the afternoons. Alternatively, sometimes paperboys are only employed once a week to deliver the paper on Sunday.
Newspaper industry lore suggests that the first paperboy, hired in 1833, was 10-year-old Barney Flaherty who answered an advertisement in the New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
, which read "To the Unemployed a number of steady men can find employment by vending this paper."
Meaning
Paper boy is a job pertaining to one who distributes newspapers or a newspaper deliverer.Pros
Paper distribution is a fairly simple job. It consists of mapping out one's territory and using it to advantage in distributing paper. Knowledge of bicycle maintenance (if used) and basic customer service skills are developed. During the Holiday season in western countries, a paperboy can make an extra bonus - similar to a postman or a milkmanMilkman
A milkman is a person, traditionally male, who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver products other than milk such as eggs, cream, cheese, butter, yogurt or soft drinks...
. This is typically done by writing a Christmas card to each of the customers on the round and, in many cases, the customers will respond by leaving a "Christmas Box" or a "tip" (cash) as a gift. Customers may of course choose to leave tips and gifts out at any time of the year.
Cons
It is a low-standing job. As most papers are delivered early in the morning it requires the delivery person to get up early, which can also mean braving cold, dark, and inhospitable conditions. Some delivery routes have also moved away from simple 'walking routes' to larger 'driving routes', which requires both a car and a license. 'Driving routes' have become less profitable with the rising price of fuel, since fuel is not paid for by most newspapers/newsagents.For paperboys using a bike, and the typical paper-round bag - in the UK a luminous, waterproof coloured bag with a single strap - the papers (chiefly at the weekend) are collectively very heavy and/or thick, meaning that often on a Saturday or a Sunday the round has to be split and completed in two halves. The worst "culprits" in the UK are the Daily Telegraph on a Saturday and the Sunday Telegraph; The Sunday Times and The Observer (which is small but thick).
The early depictions of paperboys on bikes throwing papers into gardens is no longer prevalent as most houses now have a letterbox on the front door and gardens are not easily accessible from the streets.
In fiction
For motion pictures with the word in the title, see the IMDb; for others in which they feature, see http://www.imdb.com/keyword/paperboy/Arnold Bennett
Arnold Bennett
- Early life :Bennett was born in a modest house in Hanley in the Potteries district of Staffordshire. Hanley is one of a conurbation of six towns which joined together at the beginning of the twentieth century as Stoke-on-Trent. Enoch Bennett, his father, qualified as a solicitor in 1876, and the...
's 1911 novel The Card
The Card
The Card is a short comedic novel written by Arnold Bennett in 1911, . It was later made into a 1952 movie starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark. It chronicles the rise of Edward Henry Machin from washerwoman's son to Mayor of Bursley...
features a newspaper take-over. Part of the success of the stratagem depends on the proprietor temporarily detaining all his rival's paperboys, which he does by promising them food and locking them in. The paperboys are depicted as a rumbustious and tight-knit group.
Tony Macaulay's memoir 'Paperboy' (2010) tells the experiences of a paperboy in West Belfast in the 1970s.
Bob Thurber's 'Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel' (2011) tells the experiences of a 14-year-old paperboy and his emotionally troubled sister during the summer of 1969.
Newsies
Newsies
Newsies is a 1992 Disney musical film starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret also appeared in supporting roles. The movie is widely claimed to have gained a cult following after its initial failure at the box office...
, a 1992 musical film, directed by Kenny Ortega
Kenny Ortega
Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He is known for directing the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concert tour.-Life and career:...
, is about the Newsboys Strike of 1899
Newsboys Strike of 1899
The Newsboys Strike of 1899 was a youth-led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst's newspapers compensated their child labor force. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer's New York World to reduce its circulation from 360,000 to 125,000...
.
Better Off Dead 1985 movie features a paperboy on a bicycle that throws a newspaper through a closed window breaking the window glass. There are several paperboys in this movie.
In the 2001 Disney film, Max Keeble's Big Move
Max Keeble's Big Move
Max Keeble's Big Move is a 2001 Disney live-action teen comedy film directed by Tim Hill, written by David L. Watts, James Greer, Jonathan Bernstein, and Mark Blackwell, and starring Alex D. Linz as the title character. The film is set in University Place, Washington. It was released in North...
, the film's protagonist is a local paperboy.
See also
- Newspaper Carrier DayNewspaper Carrier DayNewspaper Carrier Day is celebrated in the United States and honors Barney Flaherty, the first newspaper carrier hired in 1833, as well as all current newspaper carriers. It is celebrated on September 4, the anniversary of Flaherty's hiring by Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun. It is...
- Paperboy (video game)Paperboy (video game)Paperboy is a 1984 arcade game by Atari Games. The players take the role of a paperboy who delivers newspapers along a suburban street on his bicycle. This game was innovative for its theme and novel controls.-Gameplay:...
- Newsboy capNewsboy capThe newsboy cap or newsy cap is a casual-wear cap similar in style to the flat cap. Sometimes also referred to as the: Baker Boy, Apple Cap, Eight Panel, Cabbie, Jay Gatsby , Fisherman's Cap, Pageboy and Lundberg Stetson.It has the same overall shape and stiff peak in front as a flat cap, but the...
- Paperboys (documentary)Paperboys (documentary)Paperboys is a 2001 documentary film by American director Mike Mills. The 41-minute film, produced by Jack Spade, profiles six paperboys from Stillwater, Minnesota. They invite Mills into their homes, show him their personal effects, and answer questions about their lives and the future of paperboys...
Audio clips
- Paperboy – arrangement of Londonderry Air, aka Danny Boy for orchestra and solo baritone, performed by Kieran of the Potato Hermits, 2010