Hey look! The historical reason why the prices changed! You all get a history lesson! Here we go! Enjoy! :)
Today the headline is going to give them astronomical selling.
A war.
All the newsies breath in deep long sighs of relief. A really good headline.
Everyone buys 100 papes that day. Anyone who can afford it buys even more than a hundred papes.
Race has never seen something like this in his life. Ever.
April 21, 1898, the first day of the Spanish-American War, every single newsie sells every single pape they bought. No one is eating paper tonight (nor will they eat paper from April to August).
Race saves one. Of course he does. This is intriguing.
Of course, they need to understand what's going on if they're going to sell the headline.
April 21, 1898: the day the Spanish-American War started.
So far, what they know is that tensions have been high between America and Spain for some time over the territories in the Caribbean. Then yesterday, April 20th, a joint Congressional resolution was signed demanding the Spanish to withdraw their colonial rule of Cuba and authorized the President to use military force to help Cuba gain its independence from Spain. Now, today, April 21th, both sides declared War. So far, neither have allies.
Race can't wait to dump a bunch of info about the war onto any poor unsuspecting soul. If he's cute enough or suave enough, or both, he can probably get away with it.
He can't wait.
"Can't believe people are still eating this up," Blink comments a week in.
"Except now we ain't the ones eating the news!" Mush adds.
"I know! We're finally getting by more than okay," Jack says.
Except, the next day, the prices go up.
It used to be fifty cents per hundred papes.
Now it's sixty cents per hundred papes.
They're paying a tenth of a cent more for their papes than before. It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up quickly.
Some aren't exactly happy about that. Way more than some.
"Why'd the prices go up?" Race asks.
"Well, it's simple. The people who own the newspapers want to make more money than they already are," Jack explains. "Ya see, circulation has gone up and up and up since the War began, because there is new news constantly. It's a power move for them. Don't worry. The prices are gonna go back down, I know they will."
And so, everyone has to accept that, buy their papes, and continue on with their day, still managing to sell all one hundred of the papes they collect. More, even, if they took more.
As the war goes on, the interest the people have stays the same.
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I'll Always Look Out For You
Fanfiction15 years before the legendary newsies strike of 1899, a child was born. When he is 18 months old, he is brought to the Manhattan Newsies Lodging House. In time, he would be known as Racetrack Higgins. This is his story. This is the story of the news...
