TOLEDO, Ohio — The Old Newsboys of Toledo were back on the streets of Toledo again on Friday, selling a charity newspaper to raise money for the needy families of Toledo.
They have repeated this benevolence every year for the past 90, raising millions for clothing and food every December during the holiday season.
The roots of the tradition, however go back even further than 90 years.
Actually they can be traced to 1892 when railroad agent John E. Gunckel took pity on the hundreds of young street urchins who lived on Toledo downtown streets hawking copies of the Toledo Blade and the Toledo Bee, and other daily papers so they could earn a meager living to keep them fed and in clothes.
Many, as young as 10, had been turned out into the street by their destitute or dysfunctional families to fend for themselves. Times were not god for many families and such situations were common throughout Victorian era America and England.
John Gunckel was a Railroad agent and worked in downtown Toledo and wondered if there was someway he could help the young "newsies".
"In 1892, he held a Christmas party for the kids, and about 100 of them came," said Tedd Long, a local history buff who has studied the Gunckel story. "It was from the party that he began to organize what would become the Toledo Newsboy Association."
Gunckel's idea for the organization was to create a system for these young and vulnerable children, boys and girls to gain some self-respect and self-control. He issued badges to them, and set up an organization of self governance so they could set up rules of discipline. No swearing, smoking and gambling, among them.
The organization began to gain popularity and in a few years, Gunckel, who had many influential friends in Toledo, was able to construct a new building for the kids where they could have social time and learn vocational skills that could be put to use later in life.
Gunckel's efforts did not go unnoticed and other communities who also had large populations of "newsies" and "shoeshiners" living on the streets also developed similar groups.
The Toledo idea developed into a national movement and a National Newsboy Association was formed and John Gunckel became its guiding light.
Gunckel spent the next 22 years of his life dedicating himself to the Newsboys and wrote a book about his experiences and theories on how best to motivate young kids so they could find the right direction in their lives.
"He internally was someone who had a big heart, he worked with these kids and believed they could do so much more."
And Tedd Long said when Gunckel passed away in 1915, he was so loved by so many kids and adults in the area, that they honored him with a grave marker like no other. At Woodlawn Cemetery it remains as one of the signature monuments of the facility. A 25-foot high pyramid made of stones that were brought to the site by children of Toledo. Many of the stones were from all over the world.
The Newsboys Association would eventually become the Boys and Girls Clubs of Toledo and in 1929, as one way to honor Gunckel's memory and the Newsboys who created and sustained the original group, a new group was formed.
It was the Old Newsboy and Goodsfellows Association which for the past 90 years has raised money through the sale of a charity paper.
All proceeds, go to help families in the Toledo area in need. It is one of two legacies of Gunckel says Long who would like Toledoans to know more about this Gunckel and how he touched so many lives and still does.