Cause And Effect: The Newsboy Strike Of 1899

Cause & Effect: The Newsboy Strike of 1899

“Extra, extra, read all about it!” Almost everyone has seen the classic image of a newsboy hawking headlines in film and television but few know any history of these kids. Newsboys were young boys and, occasionally, girls who ranged from children to young teens, most of whom were runaways or orphans. These kids would buy papers from the publishers then walk the streets hawking headlines and selling papers. In July of 1899, a group of New York newsboys, dubbed newsies at the time, protested two of the most popular New York papers, the World and the Journal. This strike, caused by a high price for papers, affected the newsies, the papers, and the citizens of New York.

The owners of these papers, Joseph

A group of newsies led by an eye patch clad George J. Fabian, more commonly known as Kid Blink, joined together to convince newsies all over New York to boycott the papers. Due to the strike, these newsies were not making any income to pay for food or board. They were spending their time creating a union, leading demonstrations, and protesting the papers. They held rallies and were recognized in various newspaper articles. These articles captured the intentions and hearts of the newsies well, including quotes like this one from Brooklyn native Kid Blink, “Friens and feller workers. Dis is a time which tries de hearts of men. Dis is de time when we’se got to stick together like glue. We know wot we wants and we’ll git it, even if we is blind.” These articles made the newsies seem favorable in the eyes of the public. They were beginning to learn how unfairly working children were being treated. Unfortunately, some of the newsies were arrested or fined during the strike for violence, destruction of property, or disorderly conduct. Newsies would even beat on each other if one attempted to sell papers during the strike. They made examples of them saying “Ye don’t sell no more Woild ‘r Joinal, ‘r ye git yer face punched in-see?”

The owners and employees of the papers were also affected. They were losing profits and popularity. Newsies would destroy any newspapers that the World or Journal attempted to distribute. Carts of newspapers were dumped into the streets and papers were torn to shreds as newsboys said things like, “No true friend of organized labor will read dem papers. We’s got other union papers. Pay a penny and read dem.” They would sometimes become violent with the employees as well, bringing things like sticks to