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April 1, 1913. "Lloyd Davis, 125 Riverside Drive. Says 22 yrs. old but it is doubtful. Quit schooling after four years in New Haven to take job in Lower Manhattan. Evidently a newsie. Talks in gibberish: 'I sell paper on the Street. Bonds, convertible debentures, securities.' Smokes, visits saloons. Goes to houses in the District: Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan. Makes fifty dollars a day." Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine. View full size.
Was the joke his, or yours?
[This is actually a National Photo picture from Washington, D.C., circa 1920. The subject is one Lloyd Davis, although I have no idea who he was. - Dave]
Wow. A Lewis Hine parody! I count six jokes in this caption.
Uh, folks, let's consider Lloyd's talents for a moment and pause to remember today's date. What often happens on the first day of April? Right. This is a fun spoof and it seems many visitors fell for it. Good job, Shorpy staff!
It's funny, so many Shorpy pics have annotations of newsboys pretending to be way older than they are - and here's this guy trying to be younger.
[Odd, isn't it? - Dave]
While it is certainly possible that Mr. Davis was fabricating his job and income (Hine may have been following cues such as Davis's home address and his dress for additional insight), there is nothing nonsensical about the claim to "sell paper on the Street. Bonds, convertible debentures, securities." That job description exists in pretty much identical words today.
The waif of Wall Street.
Hilarious!
"Talks in gibberish" -- I'm inclined to agree!
Wonderful site, and that's no April Fool.
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