"The street trades of Washington employ one-fourth of the total number of children engaged in all occupations. It is a surprising fact that of the number of children under fifteen who have come within the arm of the law, more than two-thirds are from the ranks of children in these trades. The boys selling papers are especially subjected to temptations. These youngsters, some of them seven and eight years old, quickly learn that it is much easier to make money by failing to have the correct change than to be content with the legitimate profit on the sale. Knowledge of sharp practice when acquired is hard to eradicate. The tendency is for the child to learn to believe that through begging or questionable means he can reap a larger harvest than is possible legitimately." -Washington Post, April 2, 1908

In the summer of 1908, the US Congress, having jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, passed the first federally enacted child labor law. Among the provisions was the requirement that "no boy under ten and no girl under sixteen shall be permitted to be a bootblack (shoeshiner) or sell papers or goods of any kind on the streets or any public place in the District." (Washington Post, May 22, 1908.) The law also specified: "...no child under fourteen years shall be permitted to work unless the labor of such child is necessary for its support or for the assistance of a disabled father or mother or for the support of a younger brother or sister or a widowed mother. No child under sixteen years shall be employed unless authorized by the superintendent of public schools." (Washington Post, June 7, 1908.)

In April of 1912, Lewis Hine took nearly 50 photographs of newsboys and gum vendors in Washington, and then submitted the following report to Congress as evidence of abuses of the 1908 child labor legislation:

"At various times, the streets literally swarmed with youngsters, a few of them five or six years old, many of them from 7 to 12. It was impossible for me to count, or even to estimate the number of them accurately, in the limited time I was in the city, because of the irregularity of employment and the vacillation of the children from place to place." 

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In all of the Lewis Hine child labor photos, we see a child (or children) in a situation the photographer wants us to think about, and then come to the conclusion that it is not acceptable, and that there should be laws to prevent it from happening anymore. For this photo, we can tell that Solomon Sickle is young, perhaps 11 years old, as Hine stated. We know it's daytime, but we don't know what time of day. We don't know where he is standing, except that it's in Washington, DC. (According to Washington Seen: A Photographic History, 1875-1965, the location was near the corner of Seventh St and Pennsylvania Ave, NW.) We don't how many hours he's been out there, or how many days of the week he does it. We don't know if he goes to school, what language he speaks, who his parents are (or if his parents are alive), and how many siblings he has. And more importantly, we don't know what he is thinking. Chances are, we will react with sympathy and wonder if this poor boy will ever get a chance at success in life.

Solomon Sickle was born in Russia on July 5, 1903, according to the Social Security Death Index, but the family estimates he was born in 1901. He was one of at least six children born to Harry and Annie Sickle, who married in about 1895. Harry came to the US from Russia, without his family, in about 1908 (I could not find him or any of his family in immigration records). In the 1910 census, he is listed as a shoemaker with his own store, and lives at 321 7^th Street. The rest of the family joined him apparently in 1911 or 1912 (per Hine caption and 1920 census), or perhaps as early as 1909, according to Solomon's obituary. In the 1920 census, the family lives in a rented apartment at 309 Seventh Street, SW. Harry is still a shoemaker, and Solomon is listed as unemployed.

Solomon married Lillian Rosenthal about 1926, according to the 1930 census, which lists the family as having two young children and renting at 909 4 ½ Street. Solomon is listed as the owner of a delicatessen. At that time, his parents were living in their own home at 429 7^th Street. His father was still a shoemaker. He died in 1940, at the age of 70. Solomon's mother died in 1956.

Solomon Sickle passed away in Washington on June 30, 1956, at the age of about 55. I found his death record and obituary and contacted his daughter, Sally Riskin. She was stunned to see the photo of her father.