Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
- Baldwin 62303
- Baldwin VO-1000
- Cold
- No expense spared
- Tough Guys
- Lost in Toyland
- And without gloves
- If I were a blindfolded time traveler
- Smoke Consumer Also Cooks
- Oh that stove!
- Possibly still there?
- What?!?
- $100 Reward
- Freeze Frame
- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
- Just add window boxes
- Icing Platform?
- Indiana Harbor Belt abides
- Freezing haze
- Corrections (for those who care)
- C&NW at Nelson
- Fallen Flags
- A dangerous job made worse
- Water Stop
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
Print Emporium
Richard Pierce: 1910
May 1910. Wilmington, Delaware. Richard Pierce, 723 Walnut Street. Fourteen years of age. Western Union Telegraph Messenger No. 2. Nine months in service. Works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Smokes. Visits houses of prostitution. Investigator, Edward F. Brown. View full size. Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.
Pointless information
On the off chance anyone's interested, Richard's address is now a parking garage.
I'm assuming, of course, that the original address was NORTH Walnut; South Walnut didn't really have anything on it in 1910, I think; even now it's a field across from a car dealership.
Teenager
I was about to say, Looks like a 47 year old child. Life was tough on the young ones. I was reared on a dairy and row crop farm, so I can relate to the hard work. Never been to a house of prostitution, though. I did, however, smoke at an early age; about 13.
Smokes and Visits
Maybe that adds to his looking older than his years, but you don´t really think working 11 hours a day makes someone look young and fresh, or do you?
Richard Pierce
This is Joe Manning, of the Lewis Hine Project. Samuel Richard Pierce was born about 1896. He married a girl named Agnes. They had five children listed in the 1930 census, and Richard's occupation was given as a plumber. On his WWII draft registration, he is still married to Agnes, still living in Delaware, and still a plumber. He died in 1970.
Eyes
His eyes look so sad. And those wrinkles--at 14. I too wonder how his life turned out. This photo speaks volumes.
The meaning of "visits"
Does that mean he visits, as in delivers messages there, or visits, as in "visits"?
[Delivers messages. - Dave]
14 going on 40.
14 going on 40. I wonder how his life turned out. I'm almost afraid to speculate. Poor kid.
That Exhausted Look
It can't be the 11 hour days, it has to be the "smokes" and visits to the "houses of prostitution."
Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5