“Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” Those are words you don’t hear anymore. Newsboys aren’t standing on downtown corners hawking newspapers. A thing of the past, like running boards on automobiles.

My two brothers, Rodney and Russell, sold the Sunday edition that way. Not everyone subscribed to the Sunday paper. Often, they picked up a copy on their way home from church. It was an opportunity for kids to earn a little spending money.

The image of a newsboy accompanying this piece wasn’t far from wrong. My brothers were former farm boys. That old saying that you can take the boy out of the farm but you can’t take the farm out of the boy was especially true in their case.

My brothers wore those clodhopper lace-up boots that boys of that generation wore. Yes, we were country. Living in town didn’t change that. Unfortunately, it made them look out of place in a downtown setting. They looked like poor street urchins. Too bad, so sad, but it sold papers.

My brothers had a favorite corner. No one else dared trespass there. Farm boys know how to protect what they consider theirs. Yes, it was the best corner in town. The after church crowd all seemed to pass that way. They took pity on Rod and Russ’ shabby appearance. It was their act of charity.

Was it an “Extra!” addition? No way. It was just the regular Sunday paper, no more, no less. That wasn’t evident until the money was in my brother’s hand and the paper was theirs. The customers never seemed to learn. Rod and Russ did a land office business.

The Great depression was not easy living. Kids today would be at a loss on how to survive those hard times.