In their time, newsboys (girls were rare) were American icons—symbols of unflagging industry and tattered, barefoot, shivering objects of pity. Some used hawking as a cover for picking pockets, but most were as honest as they could afford to be. His “Crying the News: A History of America’s Newsboys” is an encyclopedic account of these heralds of the golden age of newspapers in America. At the height of the Spanish-American War, Pulitzer’s New York World and its competitors splashed “Havana Shelled” across the front page. Mr. Kosner is the former editor of Newsweek, New York, Esquire and the New York Daily News.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 06, 2019 20:26 UTC