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

Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, decided to capitalize on increased circulation during the Spanish-American War. They upped the cost of the papers from 50 cents for a hundred papers to 60 cents. Unfortunately, they decided to leave the papers at that price after the war instead of returning to the original cost of 50. The newsies, who sold their papers to the public for a penny each, were furious. They were already having trouble making enough money to live on before the cost increase. After the increase, they could not afford their basic needs like food and housing. It was this increase in cost that caused the newsies to strike.
The strike mainly affected the newsies.

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

demonstrations.
Citizens of New York were also affected by the strike. The newsies caused quite a disturbance of the public during some of the strike. They demonstrated across the Brooklyn Bridge for days, bringing traffic to a halt. Citizens could not buy their papers easily, either. Attempts at buying a World or Journal newspaper put them in a potentially violent situation as the newsies destroyed the papers and beat on the employees. Some newsies would even steal papers from citizens.
The most important effect of the strike was the resolution. Pulitzer and Hearst were not willing to lower their price, but they did agree to begin buying back unsold newspapers from the newsies. The newsies began selling papers again and New York was back to normal. Newsies in other cities heard of the strike and started their own, coming to similar agreements with the owners of their papers.
The newsboy strike of 1899 was one of history’s most impressive child strikes. Grubby, poor children came together to fight for their rights and won. They never gave up, even as they were losing profits daily and being thrown in prison cells. Their persistence gave them a victory that has been recognized in various ways, including a Disney film and Tony award winning musical, both titled Newsies. Still, few people know about the strike, what caused it, and its effects.