Welcome to Bedtime History. Hello, this is Brec.

Tonight our story begins around 100 years ago in New York City.

Every day new families were moving to New York.

Some were traveling across the sea by boat to find new work.

They came from Ireland, Italy and England looking for new places to work and to raise a family.

Because of all the work and people there, New York was a busy, noisy place with many factories, stores and crowded streets.

Close your eyes and picture yourself standing on a street in New York City at this time.

You hear people walking and talking and horses trotting down the dirt roads.

You smell fresh baked bread, someone selling on a corner.

A whistle blows as work starts and then nearby factory.

Men wear vests and caps, women wear dresses.

As you walk down the street, you hear a boy calling from the corner.

He is shouting loudly, you turn and walk toward him.

You see that he is a small boy with old, grimy clothes and holes in his shoes.

He is carrying a large stack of newspapers and holding one high over his head.

Read the headlines, Spanish American War rages on.

He waves a paper at you.

Do you want to buy a paper? He asks.

You nod and hand him a coin and he hands you a paper and smiles.

You look at the newspaper, the top of the reads, Spanish American War and big bold letters.

You read about a war with pictures of ships sailing across the ocean and soldiers marching and firing their weapons.

The boy who sold you a newspaper was called a newsboy.

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