Private Content
The early teen bicycle messengers, 1908-1917_teo
âGeorge Christopher, Postal Tel. #7, 14 years old. Been at it over 3 years. Does not work nights. Location: Nashville, Tennesseeâ. November, 1910.
In 1908, the National Child Labor Committee hired Lewis Hine, a New York sociologist, and photographer, to document the exploitative working conditions of child laborers in dozens of occupations, from mining and manufacturing to farming and newspaper selling. Among the many workers he captured were bicycle messengers in several southern cities.
Almost immediately after the development of the pedal-driven velocipede in the 1860s, people began to use the bicycle for delivery purposes.
David V. Herlihyâs 2004 book on the early history of the bicycle contains several references to bicycle messengers working during the late 19th century, including a description of couriers employed by the Paris stock exchange in the 1870s.
During the bicycle boom of the 1890s in the United States, Western Union employed a number of bicycle telegraph boys in New York City, San Francisco, and other large population centers.
Most of the messengers worked for telegraph companies or drug stores and spent exhaustingly long hours making deliveries. In his interview notes, Hine expressed particular concern about the childrenâs exposure to danger and vice â many of the youngstersâ assignments took them into red-light districts rife with drug dealers and sex workers.
The photos that Hine took became the face of the child labor reform movement and ultimately helped push through the 1916 passage of the Keatings-Owen Act, which set age and shift length restrictions for young workers.
While the act was struck down by the Supreme Court, it set the stage for lasting reform to be created during the New Deal of the 1930s.
âRaymond Bykes, Western Union No. 23, Norfolk, Va. Said he was fourteen years old. Works until after one A.M. every night. He is precocious and not a little âtough.â He told me he often sleeps down at the Bay Line boat docks all night. Several times I saw his mother hanging around the office, but she seemed more concerned about getting his pay envelope than anything elseâ. June, 1911.
âCurtin Hines. Western Union messenger #36. Fourteen years old. Goes to school. Works from four to eight P.M. Been with WU for six months, one month delivering for a drug storeâ. October 1913.
âPercy Neville, eleven year old messenger boy. Messenger boy #6 for Mackay Telegraph Company. Says he has been messenger for different companies for four yearsâ. November, 1913.
âHappy but thoughtless. The messenger service is poor training for him. (Works for Dime Messenger Service). Location: Washington, D.C.â. April, 1912.
âMessenger boy working for Mackay Telegraph Company. Said fifteen years old. Exposed to Red Light dangers. Location: Waco, Texasâ. September, 1913.
âFourteen year old messenger #2 Western Union, Shreveport. Says he goes to the Red Light district all the timeâ. November, 1913.
âPercy Neville, eleven year old messenger boy. Messenger boy #6 for Mackay Telegraph Company. He has been messenger for different companies for four yearsâ. November, 1913.
âA typical messenger boy in New Orleans. The telegraph companies are trying to obey the law, and few violations occurâ. November, 1913.
âHoward Williams, thirteen year old delivery boy for Shreveport, La. Drug Company. He works from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 P.M.; has been here three months. Goes to the Red Light every day and night. Says that the company could not keep other messenger boys; they work them so hardâ. November, 1913.
âFifteen year old delivery boy for Linders Drug StoreâŠ. He works from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. Location: Dallas, Texasâ. October, 1913.
âPercy Neville in the heart of the Red Light district. Just come out of one of the houses with messageâŠ. He said gleefully âShe gimme a quarter tip'â. November, 1913.
âPostal Telegraph boy, Danville, Va. That night he refused to show me through the Red Light District, said the manager did not permit them to go on such errandsâ. June, 1911.
âLuther Wharton, drug store delivery boy, twelve years old. Works from 4:00 P.M. to midnight in Sommers Drug Store. I saw him working at midnight. He goes to school in the daytime, then works from four to twelve. Sundays half a day. Gets $5.00 a weekâ. October, 1913.
âPostal Telegraph messenger. Location: Birmingham, Alabamaâ. November, 1910.
âA typical Birmingham messengerâ. October, 1914.
ââRed Lineâ messenger serviceâŠ. Location: Sacramento, Californiaâ. May, 1915.
âYoung messenger in New Bedford, Massachusettsâ. August, 1911.
âA.D.T. Messenger Boy, Indianapolis, 10 P.M.â. August, 1908.
âYoung messenger making an office call. Location: Washington. D.C.â. April, 1912.
âMarion Davis, Messenger #21 for Bellevue Messenger Service. Fourteen years old. âBeen messenger, off and on, for two years. Not supposed to go to the Reservation under sixteen years, but I do just the same. The boss donât care and the cops donât stop me.â Location: Houston, Texasâ. October, 1913.
âFourteen year old Western Union Messenger #43. Works until 10:30 P.M. Goes to Reservation some. Location: Houston, Texasâ. October, 1913.
âLeo Day, Postal Telegraph Messenger, 12 years old, and a very knowing lad. Location: Tampa, Floridaâ. March, 1911.
âHodges Gallop, Western Union Messenger No. 16, Norfolk, VaâŠ. Been working here one month. He, and several other young boys, work until 10:30 P.M.â June, 1911.
âHodges Gallop, Western Union Messenger No. 16, Norfolk, VaâŠ. Been working here one month. He, and several other very young boys, work until 10:30 P.M.â June, 1911.
âWilbur H. Woodward, Washington, D.C., Western Union messenger 236, one of the youngsters on the border-line, (15 yrs. old) works until 8 P.M. onlyâ. April, 1912.
âEarle Griffith and Eddie Tahoory, working for the Dime Messenger Service. They said they never knew when they were going to get home at night. Usually work one or more nights a week, and have worked until after midnight. They said last Christmas their office had a 9 yr. old boy running errands for them, and that he made a great deal of money from tips. They make about $7 a week and more, sometimes. Said ââThe office is not allowed to send us into the red light district but we go when a call sends us. Not very often.'â April, 1912.
âPreston DeCosta [i.e., De Costa?], fifteen year old messenger #3 for Bellevue Messenger Service. I ran across him and took photos while he was carrying notes back and forth between a prostitute in jail and a pimp in the Red Light. He had read all the notes and knew all about the correspondence. He was a fine grained adolescent boy. Has been delivering message and drugs in the Red Light for 6 months and knows the ropes thoroughly. âA lot of these girls are my regular customers. I carry âem messages and get âem drinks, drugs, etc. Also go to the bank with money for âem. If a fellow treats âem right, theyâll call him by number and give him all their work. I got a box full of photos I took of these girls â some of âem I took in their room.â Works until 11:00 P.M. Location: San Antonio, Texas.â October, 1913.
âA typical group of Postal Messengers in Norfolk, Va. Smallest on left end, Wilmore Johnson, been there one year. Works days only. The Postal boys are not nearly so young, in Norfolk and also in other Virginia cities, as are the Western Union boysâ. June, 1911.
âBen Collins. Been working steady for Mackay Telegraph Co. for 1 month. 13 years old. Says he makes $5 a week. Location: Oklahoma Cityâ. March, 1917.
âIsaac Boyett, âIâm de whole show.â The twelve year old proprietor, manager and messenger of the Club Messenger Service, Waco, Texas. The photo shows him in the heart of the Red Light District where he was delivering messages as he does several times a day. Said he knows the houses and some of the inmates. Has been doing this for one year, working until 9:30 P.M. on Saturdays. Not so late on other nights. Makes from six to ten dollars a weekâ. November, 1913.
âManley Creasson. Messenger #6, Mackay Telegraph Co. Says he is 14; school records say 13. Says he has steady job â âBeen a messenger for years. Get $15 for 2 weeksâ pay.â Location: Oklahoma Cityâ. March, 1917.
âEleven year old Western Union messenger #51. J.T. Marshall. Been day boy here for five months. Goes to Red Light district some and knows some of the girls. Location: Houston, Texasâ. October, 1913.
âPostal messenger #6. Said he was 14, but he does not seem to be. Frail, tiny and stunted. Works until 11 P.M. Says he goes to the Red Light some, and gets 25 cents extra then. Location: Montgomery, Alabamaâ. October, 1913.