Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibition

Historias: Stories of El Paso A virtual exhibition curated by our community Courtesy of: Daniel Norman Title: The Paper Boy Historia type: Photograph My parents and my older brothers taught me the work ethic that guided me throughout my life. As a youngster about 10 years old I was asked to help my brothers deliver the paper to the neighbors who subscribed to the El Paso Times and the El Paso Herald-Post. In the winter I remember the quiet calmness of being the first to venture out into the snow to make our deliveries. I also remember listening on our transistor radios to the only radio station transmitting at that time of morning - KOMA out of Oklahoma City. We delivered the Times to the residents of Sunset, around El Paso High School as well as the area near the old Morehead Elementary School where the UTEP nursing school now stands. I remember thanking God for the apartment buildings I entered that gave me warm refuge from the bitter cold outside. After completing our route we had to hurry home to get ready to go to school. In the afternoons we delivered the Post in all the same neighborhoods. A few years later we picked up a route that included the downtown area. I delivered to the managers of Kress, Woolworth, and many small businesses including jewelers and clothing stores. After completing the route I would sell the “extras” in the plaza. I often competed with the other boys selling El Fronterizo as we shouted out the name of the newspaper we were selling. I remember standing in the heat of the summer as people walked past me going to and from but seemingly never stopping to buy my newspapers. It seemed like an eternity before I finally sold my last copy.