This sketch from the Toronto Globe of 1 June, 1889 portrays a group of newsboys pitching copper pennies, a favourite entertainment. Two classes of newsboy roamed the Toronto streets, the morning and evening sellers. Some were the sole support of a parent, while others were virtually homeless. A Newsboys' Home existed in Toronto, but it was a last resort for those who preferred to sleep outdoors in good weather or in cheap lodgings in winter. J.J. Kelso, a founder of the Children's Aid Societies and Superintendent of Neglected and Dependent Children, was especially concerned with the newsboys whom he regarded as "neglected." Besides training boys to be cunning and devious, Kelso thought that it left youths with no training or patience for steady work.
