Rhode Island Picture Post Cards
Providence Journal Building - Circa 1905

This building in downtown Providence Rhode Island was home to the daily newspaper - The Providence Journal at the turn of the century.

I was a delivery boy for the Journal from 1958 to 1960. The Providence Journal put out two papers - The Journal in the morning and The Evening Bulletin. I delivered the Bulletin to about 50 customers in Saunderstown, RI. The Bulletin was only produced on six days - On Sunday's only the Journal was published. The weekly charge for 6 issues of the Bulletin was 42 cents per customer from which I received 3 cents. Most of my customers paid with two quarters so I usually received an 8 cent tip. The grand total of my earnings for the week usually averaged from $5.00 to $5.50. (This was pretty good money for a 13 year old in the fifties.)

The Journal truck traveled down the Boston - Post Neck Road (RI-1A) and dropped off a bundle of papers at about 3 P.M.  My route was fairly well spread out and I delivered my papers by bicycle. ( I had a 26 inch Raleigh model with a large basket attached to the handlebars for holding the newspapers.)