The Cheap Seats (1910)

Posted by jdg | 11:12 AM |


These urchins were found by photographer Lewis Hine in an alley behind a "moving picture theater" on First Street in Troy, New York. According to Hine, all of them were hanging around the stage entrance at 10:30 p.m. and peeking in to see the movie on the screen. The kid on the right said he was 5-years old, so the others must have been considerably younger.

I have no doubt that Charlie Chaplin or Fatty Arbuckle would approve.
Nearly all of these urchins were discovered in the photography archives of the Library of Congress (and available without copyright restrictions online). Otherwise, urchin photos will be credited to the appropriate photographer with a link to its source (unless they come from my own collection of photographs from unknown photographers). If there is ever a copyright concern, do not hesitate to contact me.