The Untold Story Of The Newsboys' Strike Of 1899

During the Spanish-American War, which started in April, 1898, the price that newsies bought their newspapers for was increased by publishers from 5 cents per newspaper to 6 cents per (from 50 cents per bundle of 10 to 60 cents), according to Village Preservation. Since the war grabbed the public's attention, the newsies didn't remark

During the Spanish-American War, which started in April, 1898, the price that newsies bought their newspapers for was increased by publishers from 5 cents per newspaper to 6 cents per (from 50 cents per bundle of 10 to 60 cents), according to Village Preservation. Since the war grabbed the public's attention, the newsies didn't remark on the price increase since it wasn't so difficult to sell the newspapers (via the You're Wrong About podcast).

But after the war ended in December, 1898, not all the publishers brought their prices back down. William Randolph Hearst, owner of the New York Evening Journal, and Joseph Pulitzer, owner of the New York Evening World, left the prices of their newspaper bundles at the higher rate of 60 cents per.

American Heritage writes that the reason Hearst and Pulitzer refused to reduce their prices was due to their own personal war. In an attempt to outsell the other, they'd poured a great deal of money into making their papers fancy and enticing. Unfortunately, they were still losing money, so they raised the prices for the newsies "in hopes of reducing their losses to more manageable levels."

Meanwhile, with the war over, the price increase started to feel more and more noticeable to the newsies by the summer of 1899. "And by now it was apparent," writes American Heritage, "that the temporary increase would become a permanent one unless they did something about it."

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