What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“A variety of other articles too tedious to mention.”
Shopkeepers Ebenezer Thompson and James Arnold placed a lengthy advertisement for a “GOOD assortment of English and India Goods” in the January 5, 1771, edition of the Providence Gazette. The partners deployed a familiar format, a prologue that gave general information about their enterprise followed by an extensive inventory of their merchandise. The prologue listed their names and location, identified which ship had recently delivered their wares, and promised “the very lowest Rates” or prices for their customers.
Some advertisers, like Nicholas Brown and Company, Joseph and William Russell, and Thurber and Cahoon limited their advertisements to the information in the prologue, but Thompson and Arnold reasoned that if they demonstrated the range of choices available to consumers that they would attract more customers. As a result, their advertisement filled half a column, enumerating dozens of textiles as well as everything from “womens black worsted gloves and mitts” to “horn and ivory combs” to “temple and common spectacles” to “leather bellows.” Thompson and Arnold focused primarily on garments and trimmings, but also indicated that they stocked housewares and hardware.
After cataloging so many items, the shopkeepers concluded with a note that they carried “a variety of other articles too tedious to mention.” Like the lengthy list, that was also a marketing strategy frequently employed by advertisers who wished to suggest that they provided such a vast array of choices that it was not possible to name all of them. This enhanced the invitation for consumers to visit their shops by providing both certainty about some of the merchandise and opportunities for further discovery. Thompson and Arnold demonstrated that they carried an assortment of goods to satisfy customers, but also allowed for some surprises that could make the experience of shopping even more pleasurable for prospective customers who took the time to examine their wares.
Thompson and Arnold certainly paid more for their advertisement than their competitors did for their notices. Five that consisted solely of the material from the prologue filled the same amount of space as Thompson and Arnold’s advertisement on its own. Yet the more extensive advertisement may very well have been worth the investment. Not only did it give consumers a better sense of the goods that Thompson and Arnold carried, its length made it more visible on the page and suggested the prosperity and competence of the shopkeepers.