Table Of ContentON THE CORNER
A VIEW OF THE LIVES OF NEWSPAPER HAWKERS IN DENVER,
COLORADO
by
Sam Cammack
B.A., Mississippi State University, 1995
A thesis submitted to the
University of Colorado at Denver
in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts
Anthropology
2000
© 2000 by Sam Cammack
All rights reserved.
This thesis for the Master of Arts
degree by
Sam Cammack
has been approved
by
John Brett
Stephen Koester
U~ 21, ~
()/
Date
Cammack, Sam (M.A. Anthropology)
On the Comer: A View of the Lives ofNewspaper Hawkers in Denver, Colorado
Thesis directed by Professor Kitty K. Corbett
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on the lives of newspaper hawkers in Denver, Colorado
to determine the factors behind why individuals tum to informal forms of
employment in times of economic prosperity. Newspaper hawking, here defined as
publicly selling newspapers on medians at street intersections and street comers to
passersby, has become a viable option for individuals in Denver who feel that formal
forms of work are either unavailable or undesirable to them. However, this form of
work is stigmatized in mainstream society, as the work is often equated with public
begging and the earnings are low.
This work examines the lives and job histories of hawkers selling papers for
the two daily newspapers in Denver, the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News.
Four common themes arise in these hawkers' lives that have led them to hawking:
having a lack of marketable job skills, being physically disabled, being too old, or not
having a fixed address. Each of these factors has laid a significant roadblock in front
of these hawkers' attempts to make it in the formal, "nine-to-five" world.
Through the words of the hawkers, one can see how informal jobs such as
hawking are essential to individuals and the economy at large. First, hawking
provides many individuals with a viable employment option for maintaining
economic survival. Second, it provides other individuals with an informal option to
help supplement their earnings in the formal workforce. Third, it eliminates some of
the need that many individuals have on public assistance through its guaranteed
payment each day.
This abstract accurately represents the content ofthe candidate's thesis. I recommend
its publication.
Signed
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Many thanks must go out to my advisor, Kitty Corbett, and to rest of my committee,
John Brett and Stephen Koester, for their continued advice and support through these
past few months. I also must extend extreme thanks to my mother and father, and
most importantly to my wife Dana, who have encouraged me throughout the process
and kept me on track when my wheels were spinning. In addition, I would like to
thank each of the hawkers who contributed to this work for their kindness and insight.
Without their help, this work would not exist.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1
2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...................................................... 4
The Concept of Work .... .. .... ................... .. ........................... .......... 6
Job Loss and Unemployment.. ..................................................... 15
Factors Behind Difficulty in Reentering the Workforce ......... .... .. 19
Unskilled Workers ............................................................ 19
Disability ........................................................................ .... 22
Age ............ ...... .... ... ...... .......... ........................................... 27
Homelessness .................................................................... 29
Public Policy Problems .... ............. . ... .... . ... ... .......... 32
The Informal Economy .............. .... ..... .... .... ................... ... ..... .... .... 33
Thoughts on the Literature .. ....... .... .. .... .... ......... ............... ...... .... 35
3. 1\ffiTHODOLOGY. .............................................................................. 39
4. FINDINGS ........................................................ ......... ..... ......... ... .......... 50
Factors Behind Hawking ............ .... .. ..... ............ ............................. 50
Alcoholism and Hawking ............................................................... 59
Hawkers and Beggars - a Clear Difference .................................... 61
Day to day lives of Hawkers ....... .. ... .. ............................... 63
Out on the Comer. ......... .. .... ... ................. .. ... :. ................................ 67
Success and Failure at Hawking .................................................... 73
Hawking Presence and Safety in Denver. ...................................... 77
How People Find Out About Hawking. ...................................... ... 81
5. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS ........................................................... 84
6. POSTSCRIPT ......... ......................................................... 91
BffiLIOGRAPHY. .................................................................................................. 94
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Denver, Colorado is a city on the rise -- a place where the economy is
booming, people are flocking to live, and the atmosphere in general is pleasant and
welcoming. As one drives along the major streets of the city, one sees signs of
economic progress such as new homes and businesses being built, roads being
expanded, and older homes being redone in many neighborhoods. Through these
images, Denver looks like a center of economic and social prosperity. However, as
one continues to drive along the bustling city streets, one will end up seeing a
different picture - numerous untidy men and women standing on medians at busy
intersections displaying copies of the two metro newspapers for sale. The newspaper
hawkers' presence typically marks a noted contrast between their surroundings and
their situation: bustling urban and suburban growth and prosperity against poverty
and day-to-day survival.
Many questions surround the hawkers' presence in the city. In a community
enjoying the economic success of Denver, why are there hundreds of individuals out
on street comers and medians selling newspapers? Aren't there better paying,
"normal" jobs available? Why would someone choose to hawk newspapers? What
are the demographics of the hawkers, and how do their backgrounds contribute to
hawkers' current situations? Why do the newspapers in Denver use hawkers to sell
newspapers in the metro area? How can a hawker be financially successful? How do
hawkers fit into the local economy, which for the most part has forced them out onto
1
the margins?
This research also sheds light on the broader issues dealing with the
anthropology of work and how people value different types of work in this society.
As the research shows in the hawkers' words, we assign certain values and status to
different forms ofwork. Hawking is stigmatized by mainstream society. Legitimate
work is often seen as steady, "nine-to-five" employment, with regular pay, job
security, and benefits maintaining employee loyalty to the company. Hawking cannot
lay claim to any of these common perceptions of employment. The work is not
guaranteed, the hours depend on the day, the only regular pay is a "show-up" fee, and
there are no benefits nor any company loyalty. However, many hawkers consider this
legitimate work, and this research supports their claim.
So what makes a job legitimate or stigmatized? Why does a person choose a
marginal job when there are theoretically many standard jobs available in the local
economy? How do these jobs fit the needs of individuals who feel that they are not
viable candidates in the traditional working world? Are hawkers trying to gain some
sense of success while they struggle to survive? At the bottom line, how does the
work done by hawkers shed light on our system and conceptions of work?
In addition, this research breaks apart the common stereotype given to
hawkers and other public peddlers: that of the homeless drunk or indigent trying to
earn money for alcohol and other narcotics. My own misconceptions of alcoholism,
transience, and general disconnection caused by the visual images projected by
hawkers on the medians - as representing a monolithic type of marginal individual in
2
American society -- were shattered by the diversity of current situations and
backgrounds represented by the hawkers I interviewed.
As I saw in the words of the hawkers themselves, I was not alone in my
preconceptions. Several hawkers complained of having passersby yell out, "Get a
job!" while they were selling papers. Hawking is often equated with public begging,
even though a hawker is exchanging a viable product for money as opposed to simply
asking for money without any use of human energy. What hawking shows is that
these people are willing to earn money to survive, contrary to public opinion.
Second, it shows that unskilled work does not always mirror popular perception.
Hawking does not involve tough, physically demanding labor, a common stereotype
given to blue-collar and unskilled work.
This research explores the lives of hawkers in Denver and how their roles as
hawkers are shaped by mainstream society's expectations of low-skilled work. Thus,
it is necessary to begin with a review of the literature concerning the anthropology of
work, as well as dealing with homelessness and other urban problems. This thesis
starts with a look at the methodology being used to answer the questions of why
people use newspaper hawking as employment and why they choose stigmatized
informal means of work over theoretically available traditional ones. Demographic
information and an overview of the daily working life of hawkers will be given,
before concluding with a discussion of the micro- and macro-level issues behind the
phenomenon of newspaper hawking.
3
CHAPTER2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Working is central to individual identity in Western society. We are defined
I
by our work, and most individuals take being able to work for granted. In areas
where the economy is strong and jobs are plentiful, the fact that there are unemployed
individuals in the community with few options for work seems astonishing.
However, because of their lack of success in finding work, many people in Denver,
Colorado and other metropolitan areas in the United States are forced into informal
avenues for obtaining employment. One avenue for earning money is through
newspaper hawking.
Even with a strong economy and various available jobs, both micro and
macro-level reasons exist for why many individuals either are not able to work or are
only able to work on a part-time basis. The first of these is a lack of skills on the part .
of the potential employee. In the emerging information-based economy, unskilled
workers have seen their opportunities and power in the workforce diminish. As the
global economy continues to grow, many employers of unskilled labor are leaving the .
United States and venturing to developing nations to earn greater profits from lower
wages and poorer working conditions in these countries.
Disability is a second major factor. Individuals who have either a physical or
mental disability are limited in the types of work they may pursue, as a disability
either limits the tasks that one can accomplish or affects an individual's ability to
negotiate many work environments. Improvements, such as the passing of the
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