Newspaper Carrier Day

Newspaper Carrier Day honors everyone who is now, or once was, a newspaper carrier. This September 4 holiday also includes anyone who hawked the paper on the street or at a newsstand. The list includes thousands, if not millions, of people. Years ago, this job was primarily populated by kids, from pre-teen through approximately sixteen. At that age, many, but not all, kids moved from newspaper delivery to restaurants, grocery stores, and retail jobs. Newspaper circulation has been dwindling for a few decades and it will likely continue to do so. Online sources of news and information are replacing newspapers.

For the record: In 1950, there were 1,772 daily newspapers in the United States. Today, there are only 938. The number is expected to continue to drop. As a matter of fact, every time we check this number, it is lower.

Now, few kids deliver papers anymore except in small towns. But the “Carrier Day” tradition lives. This job is now largely held by adults, many of them delivering the paper from their cars.

This day commemorates the hiring of the very first newspaper carrier. Newspaper carriers date back to the early 1800s. On September 4, 1833, 10-year-old Barney Flaherty became the first newspaper carrier. Benjamin Day, the publisher of The New York Sun, hired Barney Flaherty to sell papers for his penny press. The only job requirement was that he had to show that he could throw a newspaper into the bushes.

Nowadays, few kids deliver papers anymore except in small towns. There are approximately 70,000 newspaper carriers in the United States. But, the “Carrier Day” tradition lives on. This job is now largely held by adults, many of them delivering the paper from their cars.