Daily AncestorNewsboy
A newsboy sold newspapers on the street or delivered them to subscribers, a common job for city boys from the mid 1800s into the 1900s.
Newsboys bought papers from the publisher and sold them for a small profit, calling out the headlines on street corners. Many were young, some lived on their own, and city charities ran lodging houses for them.
Census instructions in 1910, 1920 and 1930 use newsboy as an example of an occupation, so you will see it written plainly in the occupation column, even for quite young children.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1900 to 1940 census
Wm. Kelly, 11, Newsboy, Streets
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Newsboy." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/newsboy. Last checked 2026-10-01.