Bye Bye Paperboy
Up to 160 species disappear from our planet every day. One of them is the paperboy.
On 4 September, the USA celebrates Paperboys' Day. This day honours Barney Flaherty, the first newspaper delivery man, who was hired in 1833. In addition to him, all other newspaper carriers are also celebrated today. 4 September was chosen as this is the anniversary of Flaherty's employment. The job was given to him by Benjamin Day, publisher of the New York Sun.
Extinct species
You ask, what exactly does a newspaper carrier do? Good question. A newspaper carrier is an employee of a daily newspaper who delivers the current edition of the newspaper to customers. In contrast to delivery by post, a newspaper is delivered by a newspaper carrier much earlier in the day, usually in the early hours of the morning.
Are you asking what a daily newspaper is? Good question. A daily newspaper is Twitter on paper. Just with a few more characters. Here's a historical illustration for a better understanding:
In the 20th century - before the internet - people used to spend hours reading these things and finding out about the world. Crazy, I know. And yes, there really was life before the internet. But: no daily newspaper = no newspaper carrier. This species is also dying out.
The paperboy as film star
In many Hollywood films in the 1980s and 90s, the paperboy still made a brief but much-noticed appearance. Even entire films were named after him. Take "The Paperboy" from 1994, for example, which is actually about a paperboy. In contrast to "The Paperboy" from 2012, which is about ... I don't know. Nicole Kidman with multiple operations or Zac Efron with a look of shame?
And then, of course, there's the iconic arcade game of the same name from Atari from 1984. I wasted many hours and even more money back then delivering newspapers virtually. Marvellous.
Tempi passati. Bye bye paperboy.
Postscriptum: We still have them, the newspaper delivery boys. They stopped delivering newspapers a long time ago, but they do stuff your letterbox with adverts at four in the morning. Despite the "No advertising please" sticker.
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From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.