6. Today in 1920s Turkey: 10 August 1927 (Li’l Mehmet the Paperboy)

(“Our Smallest Paperboy,” Karagöz, 10 August 1927, no. 2024, page 2.)

Comments:
Although short and seemingly insignificant, “Our Smallest Paperboy” provides a wealth of information regarding common methods of distributing print matter in Turkey. Published 91 years ago today in the popular journal, Karagöz, the blurb highlights the remarkable work ethic of one of the journal’s own paperboys. These “features” begin occurring fairly regularly in Karagöz in 1927. In just a few sentences we are reminded that Karagöz’s domain reaches Anatolian provinces far beyond Istanbul and that even smaller towns such as Kırkağaç have as many as 150 paying customers (assuming there are no other paperboys in the town, more distributers would ultimately mean additional sales). Moreover, the reader is informed of the fact that all 150 issues of the magazine are sold within an hour in this town thanks to this little boy’s gumption (and presumably, due also to the awesomeness of Karagöz’s content). Finally, Little Mehmet’s feature ends with remarks on the state of childhood in Turkey. Karagöz’s columns and cartoons alike often openly advocate for able-bodied men to join the workforce in any way possible and likewise, publish articles urging the government and private investors to create more jobs so that nobody stays idle. A similar message is injected here as the paperboy’s success becomes an opportunity to discuss the importance of hard work at all ages.

Note: I loosely translated müvezzi as “paperboy.” More literally it means “distributer, deliverer.” This term was commonly applied to newspaper deliverers at the time.

English:
Our Smallest Paperboy: In Izmir’s Kırkağaç town there is a famous, shrewd little rascal named Little Mehmet who has been selling one hundred and fifty Karagöz’s in one hour. As you can see from his picture, he looks like a clever little thing alright. Until now Turkish children would play on the streets. The new rascals are finding that making money is better and this is a good sign that they will each become bread-earning men in the future.
(Caption under photo: Turkey’s smallest news-dealer.)

Türkçe:
En küçük müvezzi : İzmir, Kırkağaç’ında Küçük Mehmet ismiyle ma’ruf, açıkgöz, afacan bir çocuk, bir saat içinde kasabada yüz elli Karagöz dağıtıyormuş. Resminden de açıkgöz birşey olduğu anlaşılıyor. Türk yavruları şimdiye kadar sokaklarda oynarlardı. Yeni afacanlar para kazanmayı daha iyi buluyorlar ki bu da ileride ekmek sahibi birer adam olacaklarına alametdir.
(Altyazı: Türkiye’nin en küçük gazetecisi.)

(Entire page, Karagöz, 10 August 1927, no. 2024, page 2.)