Here's to the Carriers!

Vintage carrier bag - internet image

It's time again to celebrate the people who deliver the news to your front step or lawn.

The last time I wrote about paper "boys and girls" was eight years ago.  Since then there are even fewer papers delivered each day.

For most of our time in Madison we received an actual paper on Sunday morning and for several years the Wednesday edition as well.

Today celebrates all carriers - present, past, or future (not sure there will many of those).  In addition to the two paper jobs I wrote about in 2014 there was another, when I worked with my friend and neighbor at The Jotter.

That job supported those who delivered The Jotter, a free shopper paper advertising garage sales and products or promotions for area businesses.   Andy and I unloaded the truck that delivered the paper, organized and counted papers for each route, then paid the carriers for last week's work and helped them load up their car or truck.

It was a free paper.  A very popular free paper, which was made clear when some folks asked if we would sell them a paper.  We didn't.

I guess some folks were so excited about the garage sales they wanted to plan their shopping route the night before to pick over treasures before someone else did.

Most (virtually all) of the carriers did a great job but occasionally the bosses heard of papers being found in a ravine instead of sitting on a front porch.  It was fairly simple to track the suspected route where the carrier took a shortcut, when verified, they lost their job.

Janesville doesn't have The Jotter anymore as far as I can tell.  Where we live now we get a free shopper paper every Wednesday delivered by mail so we can see all the latest ads and coupons.

I suppose, based on that, we should credit mail men and women, as newspaper carriers.  The job was frequently the first for young people.  Most morning papers these days are delivered by adults driving cars before traffic picks up.

Look out for those Sunday papers, they are still the heaviest but a fraction of their former heft.  If there are carriers delivering by bicycle these days, they appreciate it.

You might have a story of your time as a carrier, please share in the comments where and when you delivered the news!