there was nothing particularly unusual about that seven 30th one thousand nine hundred and forty five subways railroad terminals and ferry boats is for office bound millions women went about their housework and later their days shopping part of this normal life was newspaper taken as a matter of course by everyone so regular and complete a part of normal everyday living that finding newspapers on the news then buying them morning and night was taken pretty much for granted never a thought of the rumbling presses that produced them completely oblivious to the vast transportation system that placed them so conveniently on fourteen thousand strategically located news stands through out the city no reason to contemplate what life without newspapers would mean until it suddenly and with little warning strike one thousand seven hundred delivery men ceased work newspaper trucks stopped rolling news stands formerly piled high with eight daily new york newspapers where devoid of newspapers devoid of customers barron as a desert waste with the lone exception of pm news stands were as bare as mother hubbard's cupboard thirteen million metropolitan new yorkers deprived of their daily newspaper fair and this at a time when great events were in the making the world over president truman was on his way to a meeting of the big three japanese cities were being laid waste by b29s thousands of american boys were returning home from european battlefields now newspapers were more than a habit more than a convenience they were a necessity here then was the time of all times for radio the psychological moment for years the point has been argued discussion has raised pro and con will radio eventually supplant newspaper isn't it easier to turn a switch than to read an editorial yes for radio here was a heaven sent opportunity reluctant to profit by adversity hesitant to capitalize misfortune radio nevertheless had a job to do a public service to perform and radio rose nobly to the occasion newscasters and commentators labored long and hard radio news programs were substantially increased many newspapers either started or increased their regular news radio roundup the times was on the air every hour on the hour the herald tribune had a regular news period the news doubled its schedule went on the air forty eight times a day at almost any hour day or night the public could flip a dial and hear a newscast certainly if news by a radio could satisfy the news hungry public radio was giving it every chance but something was lacking an appetizer is a poor substitute for a full meal a starving man languages on a hollywood diet radio was apparently not the right answer newspaper readers telephone then and discovered that despite tickets newspapers were still being published every day learned they could have obtain copies by going directly to the newspaper plant here is the herald tribune plant on the first day of the strike showing the truck loading platform used to sell papers in the emergency the first day of the strike herald tribune circulation plummeted to fifteen thousand but as more and more loyal tribune readers learned they could buy the paper at the plant they went to the herald tribune in ever increasing numbers on the last day of the strike the herald tribune sold sixty five thousand copies by far the greater portion of them in direct over the counter sale to tribune readers who had taken the time and trouble to come far out of their way to get a copy of their favorite morning newspaper this represents as surprisingly high percentage of tribune circulation achieved under extremely difficult condition meanwhile a flood of tribune readers phoned the paper please give me more information on the change in red point value is it true that president truman is out of the country on what troop ship is my husband returning home now let's move to the journal american here is a newspaper plant so disadvantageously located for the general public that the paper maintains frequent bus service for its own employee to a nearby transportation center the sirens of east river shipping convoys provide a musical background for the roar of the presses despite its inaccessible location journal american readers traveled to the plant on south street in droves circulation on the first day of the strike drops to four thousand but by the end of the strike daily sales figures climbed to twenty five thousand mirror fans lined up at the mirror plant in mounting crescendo daily sales figures are unavailable but through teaming rain and glazing heat mirror readers made the trip to the plant stood in line made their purchase the new york sun here was new york's longest picket line it is impossible to show the full effect of the sun readership line because the paper was sold inside the building sun readers entered the marble lobby of the building shown in the center made their purchase inside and emerged through the door at the left when sales got too heavy for the emergency office boxes were set up in the marble foyer to serve as temporary news stands then during rush hours the place looked like grand station circulation climbed from a low of twenty three thousand on the first day of the strike to a high of seventy eight thousand on the last day the new york world telegraph this plant is located downtown near the new jersey commuting terminal the entrance where papers were sold is situated on a narrow side street in deep shadow untouched by the rays of the afternoon sun this made it impossible to take color pictures there was nothing shadowy however about the long lines of world telegram readers who came from near and far readers made the trip to the world telegram plant all the way from new haven connecticut from the far corner of long island lines five blocks long were a daily occurrence thousands filed slowly into the telegram building and emerged triumphantly with their favorite afternoon newspaper circulation rose from fifteen thousand on the first day of the strike to fifty thousand on the last day the new york times because of its times square location and because it is a morning paper the largest time's crowd during weekdays occurred at night and are not shown here blocks adjacent to the times were frequently choked with readers for a couple of hours around theater closing time a new jersey resident bought five copies of the paper to auction off at a red cross meeting when the copies of the times has got as far as asbury park new jersey although wellread by train passengers they were sold for a dollar a copy of current fifty cents if a day old a news stand manager at little silver new jersey was offered a dollar for a day old time but refused to sell because he wanted to read it himself times daily circulation rose from thirty eight thousand on the first day of the strike to two hundred and ten thousand the final day the new york news for twenty two hours out of every twenty four news readers poured in and out of the news building two to four abreast from six o'clock in the morning to four am the next morning lines began forming in the afternoon about five o'clock stood for three hours to await the first edition at eight hundred and fifteen pm the longest line occurred on a saturday night to buy the sunday news this line seventeen blocks long snaked its way along third avenue back and forth on cross streets to 32nd street city police went through the subways at 34th street warning passengers bound for the news building to get off of there to join the line instead of going on up to 42nd street assistant chief inspector john de martino of the new york city police department said this was the biggest lineup crowd in my experience at average thirty thousand per hours people stood in line for two hours before reaching the counter 42nd street grew accustomed to a daily ritual passing trolley cars were parked while motormen and passengers got off to buy the paper taxis private cars the street and adjacent blocks were packed throughout each evening with vehicles while passengers and drivers bought the news one of the picketers after shedding his sign nightly went inside to buy his paper from thirty seven thousand over the counter sales on the first day of the strike sales zoom to nine hundred and fifteen thousand on the last day of which five hundred and eighty four thousand sales were made over the counter to individuals in the lines you see happily however even laborer strike has its lighter moment by courtesy of movietone news mayor f h laguardia reads the comic now here in full picture is the laundry wagon with the yellow laundry writing and what brought back the driver you know he uh was very calmly sitting down with his back toward the back of the wagon eating his lunch and our little friend at the hub uh what was her name i'll have it in minute she's inside with the money as she said when are you going to let me out of here he said he said easy sister easy and then the next picture and we hear the sound from inside the wagon open the door and wet wash says i let you off when you decided to give me a better cut of that dough from the inside and we see the inside now i offered one thousand what do you think i am this is my money and if you remember she stopped stripping them tearing up the laundry and she had all of the money in bills in the pillows that we hear wet wash listen baby i know you're a maid at bamboozles i saw you there last week and i know that something funny about that dough now when we get it it's going to be five thousand and fifty okay then maybe you like some more of your laundry torn to pieces riiiiiiiip she's ripping the lingerie there delicate piece of lingerie and he looks in ye gods i lose my job over there stop you win i'll settle for five grand now get this picture here was wet wash the doors of the laundry wagon are open and he's leaning with his back toward the wagon and he's counting his money two three four thousand now he's getting into the hundreds six hundred seven hundred eight hundred and the picture shows a hand affectless specking out she's got hold of that iron pot remember the iron pot took from the gardeners flat to put the money in and crash she cracked it on his head knocked out hey children what does it all mean it means that dirty money never brings any luck thus new york learn that as the newspapers could not to go to the public the public would come to the paper during the seventeen days of the strike the public came to the various plants bought a total of ten million six hundred and twenty eight thousand newspaper trouble inconvenience this was the price paid each day for new york newspapers by long lines of people in rain and sun standing for hours on hard concrete risking bodily harm by cutting through picket lines impervious to shouted warnings of tickets in a city heavily unionized men women and children in all walks of life giving up a summer evening of pleasure or relaxation going without lunch or postponing dinner for hours coming for miles and oven warm subways to stand for a long period in halting or slow moving files patient perspiring persistent all for a few penny purchase such is the miracle of journalism and such as the significance of newspapers to their reader newspapers which can be read and reread newspapers in which the public can read all about it in their own time at their own convenience and thus was new york's sigh of relief when the strike finally was ended when within the hour the trucks were rolling and new york life returned to normal once again dramatic proof has been given that no other medium can take the place of newspapers in the lives of the people