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These days, the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram get delivered by adults in cars. But decades ago, it was done mostly by kids and teenagers on foot or bicycles. Or, in at least one case, a special Press Herald motorbike.
Or even, for one young carrier, on horseback. See some photos of newspaper delivery in and around Portland in past decades. Paul Grindle is seen on a Portland Press Herald and Evening Express delivery motorbike in 1942.
One can only assume he had a blast riding his route. Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives Snazzily dressed carrier Geary W. West is seen outside the Press Herald building with the bicycle he won in 1948.
Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives The snow couldn’t stop a pair of young women from covering their route delivering the Evening Express in 1956. Portland Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives A boy covered his newspaper delivery route, likely in a rural area, on horseback in 1956. Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives A trio of Portland Press Herald carrier boys stand at a crosswalk with their newspaper satchels near Broadway Pharmacy in South Portland’s Pleasantdale neighborhood in 1960.
Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives See more photos of life in Maine from our archives here. Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
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