October 10, 2017 (Tuesday)
In 1982, President Reagan signed a proclamation in recognition of newspaper carriers. Here is his Message on the Observance of International Newspaper Carrier Day, October 6, 1982: “I welcome the observance of International Newspaper Carrier Day as an opportunity to commend those individuals throughout the country who deliver our newspapers. As newspaper carriers you are an important link in the chain between publisher and reader. Your job helps millions of Americans to enjoy the convenience of home and office delivery every day. Through your efficient and timely efforts, you help keep America informed and provide a vital service to our citizens.” –Ronald Reagan
Famous people who were newspaper carriers:
Walt Disney, H. Ross Perot, Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan, Danny Thomas, John Wayne,
Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover, Martin Luther King
Jr., Harry S. Truman, Ed Sullivan, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sandburg, Tom Brokaw, Wayne
Gretzky, Jackie Robinson and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.
My dear friend, Troy Conner, had a Houston Press newspaper route during World War II. He received the newspapers in a bundle. Then it was his job to prepare the papers for 
delivery from a bicycle to front porches. Sometimes he would roll the papers and put a rubber band around them. At other times, he had an ingenious method of folding the papers so that each became a square of about 8 inches. The square performed much like a frisbee as it was thrown on the porches. It sort of sailed. Troy loaded the papers on bags that hung on the bike and threw them one at a time. On Saturdays he walked the route and collected payment from his customers. Once in a while I would help him fold the papers and very rarely rode his route for him when he could not do it.
Troy completed his degree at East Texas Baptist University and then served in the military, after which he was employed by the Veteran’s Administration. He served many churches as music director and later served on the Board of Directors for a Savings and Loan, which built a branch building and named it after him. We can therefore add his name to the list above.
Houston had three major newspapers when Troy was a carrier: The Post, The Chronicle, and the Press, which was very popular in our part of town.
Alas, printed media has lost much popularity in our day, but there was a time when one waited anxiously for the newspaper to find out what was happening.