When Eight-Year-Olds Worked The Streets: Lewis Hine’s Beautiful Vintage Portraits Of Young Workers In America

Western Union messenger, Providence, Rhode Island, 1912. The young boy was nicknamed ‘Speed’

Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, Lewis Hine documented the working and living conditions of children in American cities between 1908 and 1924

h/t: theguardian

Gum vendors, New York City, 1910

Vegetable pedlars, Boston, Massachusetts, 1915

Gum vendors and newspaper sellers, Washington DC, 1912. The smallest kids, Sam Kipnis, David Stierman and Abram Furr, were 11 years old

Street seller, Wilmington, Delaware, 1910. The child running a stall at King Street market

Shoe shine, New York City, 1910. Frank Villanello at his father’s stand in Greenwich Avenue

Basket Seller, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1908. Marie Costa captured on a Saturday morning in August at Sixth Street market

Chicken vendors, Cincinnati, 1908. Heyman Mormer (nine), Willie Mormer (12), Reubenstein (12) at Sixth Street market

Bootblack, New Haven, Connecticut, 1909

Courier, Houston, Texas, 1913. Marion Davis, 14, working for the Bellevue Messenger Service. ‘Been a messenger off and on for two years. Not supposed to go to the Reservation under 16 years, but I do just the same. The boss don’t care and the cops don’t stop me.’

Postal Telegraph messengers, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1908

Garment seller, Boston, 1912. Vitto Romano, aged 12, carrying garments from 30 Blackstone Street

Newspaper sellers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1910. Philip Weinstein, aged eight, and an older boy. They sometimes worked until 10 or 11pm

Bootblack and newsboy, Providence, 1912. Stanley Steiner, the bootblack, aged 10, sold until 1am. Jacob Botvin, the other newsboy, aged 13