Messenger boy working for Mackay Telegraph Company. Said fifteen years old. Exposed to Red Light dangers. Location: Waco, Texas. (LOC)

    Hine, Lewis Wickes,, 1874-1940,, photographer.

    Messenger boy working for Mackay Telegraph Company. Said fifteen years old. Exposed to Red Light dangers. Location: Waco, Texas.

    1913 September.

    1 photographic print.

    Notes:
     Title from NCLC caption card.
    Attribution to Hine based on provenance.
    In album: Street trades.
    Hine no. 3559.

    Subjects:
     Boys.
    Messengers.
    Telegraph industry.
    Bicycles & tricycles.
    Smoking.
    United States--Texas--Waco.

    Format: Photographic prints.

    Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

    Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

    Part Of: Photographs from the records of the National Child Labor Committee (U.S.) 2004667950

    General information about the Lewis Hine child labor photos is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.nclc

    Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.03870.

    Call Number: LOT 7480, v. 3, no. 3559

    Comments and faves

    1. ★

      OliveRyan, getolina, stvdg, heinrick05, and 410 other people added this photo to their favorites.

    2. Eli the Bearded (3 months ago | reply)

      What does "Exposed to Red Light dangers" mean?

    3. sysbeep (3 months ago | reply)

      Exposure to the red-light district in his messenger job.

    4. Eli the Bearded (3 months ago | reply)

      Makes sense, but an odd sounding euphemism.

    5. Eli the Bearded (3 months ago | reply)

      The interesting thing about his bike is that it wouldn't look out of place for a modern bicycle delivery worker, except the angle of the seat.

    6. Michael Neubert (3 months ago | reply)

      The present fashionable aspect of single speed bicycles with a steel frame and no brakes comes from present-day (ie, last 30 years, lets say) bicycle messengers who wanted something that is simple to maintain, reliable, strong, and also (one assumes) different than what regular folks ride. In the last five or so years these same bikes have become popular with so-called "hipsters" and others. Mechanically this bicycle is much more like a modern "fixie" (fixed-gear bike) than either one is like a bike used today for road racing or mountain biking, etc.

      So yes, if you could get an unused bike like this kid has from the early 1900s and a new fixie side by side, they would look very much the same. The elegance of a bicycle is in this basic design, not in the application of certain modern technologies to that design.

    7. David Rothwell (rothwell172) (3 months ago | reply)

      Lovely nostalgic photograph and insight into history, and have to concur with bicycles have not changed a bit in the last 30 or so years...

    8. Martin Davey Photography (3 months ago | reply)

      Its Wonderful as an image, and by one of my favorite photographers, but worrying that in some parts of the world this still goes on!

    9. Our Hero (3 months ago | reply)

      one tough cookie.

    10. Farshad Sanaee The Apple (3 months ago | reply)

      ,.~* Great Shot # Time *~.,

    11. 1ragincajun (3 months ago | reply)

      amazing shot. yes, that's a tough little boy.

    12. Adz7. (3 months ago | reply)

      Fantastic

    13. Randall Dickerson (3 months ago | reply)

      Exposure to traffic hazards in congested urban areas (i.e. being run over, running into the back of a stopped vehicle, beging hit from the side while traveling through a busy intersection). "Red Light Hazards" would refer to stop-and-go traffic of a city as opposed to "Traffic Hazards" on an open highway or county road.

    14. kapak fotoğrafları (3 months ago | reply)

      Fantastic. =)

      kapak fotoğrafları

    15. Leo Max Frank (3 months ago | reply)

      In 1913, at the National Pencil Company in Atlanta, Georgia, more than 100 child laborers worked 55 hours a week for pennies an hour. Bosses often prayed on these children, many of which were young girls, pre-teen and teenaged.

    16. This photo was invited and added to the Taking pictures is the way time is stopped in group.

    17. This photo was invited and added to the More Than Portraits group.

    18. This photo was invited and added to the Old Lanes, Alleys & Other Narrow Streets group.

    19. This photo was invited and added to the CYCLING HISTORY: The begining to modern group.

    20. soorme... (3 months ago | reply)

      it's wonderful..

    21. mambo1935 (3 months ago | reply)

      good shot!

    22. I, the Walrus (3 months ago | reply)

      Words cannot describe how much I love this D:

    23. airosmith (3 months ago | reply)

      Excellent!

    24. Filip Knežić (3 months ago | reply)

      Fantastico

    25. thepond99 (3 months ago | reply)

      Wow what an image! The pipe in his mouth only adds to it.

    26. Paris-Roubaix (3 months ago | reply)

      If photographs got Oscars this one should be first in line!

    27. tramsteer (3 months ago | reply)

      What a shot, an early British safety bike. So named because they replaced the Ordinary Bicycle (Penny Farthing) which ruddy lethal.
      Note the pneumatic tyres another early example.

    28. MeritCoba (3 months ago | reply)

      This picture intrigues because of it's double nature on several levels.. At the one hand it gives you a feel of what it looked like way back: the clothes are distinct.
      At the other it is a testament of something we don't like.
      The stance of the boy is interesting. You can almost see him thinking; ok let's stand here so this guy can do his interesting stuff. The photographer might even have paid him for his time(which would be irony). He is smoking, so it might be that the boy took this moment to light one up. Why not?
      As such it is just a shot. The double nature comes from the background. It is child labor; in our view this kid is exploited: he should be at school.
      The photo has a double nature because the kid earns money this way and it seems like the photo was made to more or less expose kid labor so it can be abolished.. so in fact the picture is actually aimed at losing this kids job. I wonder if boy would have helped out if the photographer had told him: i am going to take a picture so we can use it to stop you from working.
      This is the double edge of child labor. There was an documentary of an asian girl, perhaps eight years old, who made carpets. Child labor. She and her whole family worked,(slaved might be a better description).. only together they could get enough money to buy the basic needs. Abolish child labor and that income falls away and the family has to struggle harder.
      Another double nature: The kid doesn't look exploited in the picture. He seems almost relaxed and in good spirits.. But actually in the end it would probably have been better if he had attended school.
      I wonder what happened to him.. maybe he became a great sportsman with all his cycling experience?
      You'll never know.
      A very capturing picture..

    29. Michael Neubert (3 months ago | reply)

      The reference to "Red Light" dangers has to do with working (at least some of the time) in an area (known as a "red light district") where prostitution was common and one would hope not to find children at all, much less working.
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-light_district

      Such references are common in this child labor related collection - see
      www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=red%20light& co=nclc

    30. This photo was invited and added to the Flickr SHUTTERSPACE - Post 1 / Award 2, Please group.

    31. Fabiano Bulow (3 months ago | reply)

      garoto com estilo!

    32. Barbara (LOC P&P) (3 months ago | reply)

      Michael Neubert: Thanks for the helpful explanations about bicycles and the "Red Light dangers" reference. For more information on the nature of messenger service work at the time, see this National Child Labor Committee bulletin from 1912-1913, p. 213: hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015008185160?urlapp end=%3Bseq=235 (you may need to scroll down a bit to view the text).

    33. This photo was invited and added to the Supreme Awesomeness! Post Some/Award None. group.

    34. Khumais [Breaking the Habbits] (3 months ago | reply)

      Precious!

    35. toni lynn53 (3 months ago | reply)

      wonderful america

    36. luci&ombre2009 (3 months ago | reply)

      great

    37. This photo was invited and added to the Flickr Commons group.

    38. holloway steve (2 months ago | reply)

      he looks like a survivor. photographs like this always make me wonder what became of the subject.

    39. radfordred (2 months ago | reply)

      what a wonderful photo

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