Month: March 2021

March 31

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Massachusetts Spy (March 28, 1771).

“SUBSCRIPTIONS for the SPY are also taken in by Mr. J. Larkin, chairmaker.”

Most newspapers published in Boston in the early 1770s did not have extensive colophons.  Consider, for example, those newspapers published at the time that Isaiah Thomas relaunched the Massachusetts Spy on March 7, 1771.  The colophon for the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter simply stated, “BOSTON: Printed by R. DRAPER.”  Similarly, the colophon for the Boston Evening-Post read, in its entirety, “BOSTON: Printed by T. and J. FLEET.”  The Boston-Gazette also had a short colophon, “Boston, Printed by EDES & GILL.”  Limited to “Printed by GREEN & RUSSELL,” the colophon for the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy did not even list the city.  All of those colophons appeared at the end of the final column on the last page.

In contrast, Thomas adopted a style much more often (but not universally) deployed in newspapers published in other cities and towns.  Extending across all four columns on the final page, it provided much more information about the Massachusetts Spy for readers, prospective subscribers and advertisers, and others who might have business with the printing office.  He included his location, “UNION-STREET, near the Market,” and listed the subscription price, “Six Shillings and Eight Pence” annually.  He also noted that he sought advertising, but did not specify the rates.  In addition, Thomas stated that “Articles of Intelligence … are thankfully received.”  In other words, he solicited contributions to print or reprint in the Spy.  Like other newspaper printers, he accepted job printing as a means of supplementing the revenues from subscriptions and advertising.  Thomas proclaimed that he could produce “Small Hand-Bills at an Hour’s Notice.”  He provided all of the services available in other printing offices.

Thomas included an additional enhancement in his colophon, one that not only did not appear in other newspapers published in Boston but also did not appear in other newspapers published throughout the colonies.  He listed local agents who accepted subscriptions for the Spy in towns beyond Boston: “Mr. J. Larkin, chairmaker, and Mr. W. Calder, painter, in Charlestown; Mr. J. Hillier, watch-maker, in Salem; Mr. B. Emerson, Bookseller, in Newbury-Port; and Mr. M. Belcher, in Bridgewater.”  That portion of the colophon reflected advertisements Thomas placed in other newspapers prior to relaunching the Spy.  It testified to a network the printer established for gathering sufficient subscribers to make his newspaper a viable enterprise.  The list also made it more convenient for prospective subscribers to order their copies of the Spy.  Those who lived in any of the towns listed in the colophon could deal directly with the local agents rather than dispatch letters to the printing office in Boston.

When it came to publishing a newspaper in Boston, Thomas was a newcomer in the early 1770s.  All of the other newspapers in circulation had been established for many years.  Perhaps the printers believed that their newspapers and their printing offices were so familiar to readers that they did not need extensive colophons providing a lot of information.  Thomas chose a different model, one much more common in newspapers published in other places.  In the process, he added his own innovation, listing local agents, in order to gain greater advantage of the portion of each issue that he surrendered to the colophon.

March 30

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (March 30, 1771).

“He continues to carry on the Sail-making Business.”

In an advertisement in the March 30, 1771, edition of the Providence Gazette, John Sinkins advised readers that “he continues to carry on the Sail-making Business, in all its Branches, in the cheapest and neatest Manner.”  His notice was one of only a few that promoted goods and services.  Others placed advertisements for a variety of reasons, many of them delivering news of various sorts.  The notice that Joseph Clarke, General Treasurer of the colony, placed on behalf of the General Assembly concerning the conversion of “Old Tenor Bills” into “Treasurer’s Note or Notes” appeared once again, alerting readers to take action before July 1.  An advertisement concerning “a fifth Packet-Boat” to transport mail between Falmouth and New York that ran in newspapers throughout the colonies found a place in the Providence Gazette again.

Many of the advertisements focused on real estate, including one from Thompson and Arnold that described two houses in Providence, a “Lot of excellent Land on the main Street,” and several acres of salt marsh for sale.  Sylvanus Sayles sought to sell or lease a farm in North Providence, while John Andrews had a farm in Coventry to sell and a house in Providence to lease.  Moses Lyon and Hezekiah Carpenter both placed notices about other properties, as did an anonymous advertiser who instructed anyone interested in a “Large Brick DWELLING-HOUSE” in East Greenwich to “enquire of the Printer” for “further Particulars.”  Elizabeth Arnold, administratrix for her deceased husband, ran an estate notice that called on “all Persons who are indebted” and “all Persons who have just Demands” to settle accounts.  She also noted that she had a “large and commodious Lot directly opposite the Court-House” to lease.  James Seamans also ran an estate notice concerning Mary Jenckes, “late of Providence, deceased, and Widow of the late William Jenckes, Esq; of Pawtucket.”

John Jenkins continued to hawk a “NEAT Assortment of QUEEN’s WARE,” while Joseph Russell and William Russell sold garden seeds and Abiel Wood accepted orders for “North-American LUMBER.”  Along with Sinkin’s advertisement for sails, these advertisements comprised a small fraction of the paid notices that appeared in that issue of the Providence Gazette.  Purveyors of goods and services certainly attempted to harness the early American press in their efforts to generate sales, but many other kinds of advertisements ran alongside their notices.  Those other notices relayed a variety of news and updates about local events that did not appear elsewhere in the newspaper.

March 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-Hampshire Gazette (March 29, 1771).

“REPAIRS and cleans WATCHES in a faithful Manner.”

It had been several months since Nathaniel Sheaff Griffith last advertised in the New-Hampshire Gazette when his notice ran in the March 29, 1771, edition, but the “Clock and Watch-Maker in Portsmouth” was likely a familiar figure to regular readers of that newspaper.  For about a year and a half, throughout most of 1769 and well into 1770, Griffith and rival watchmaker John Simnet participated in a feud in the public prints.  Although they rarely named each, their advertisements made clear the contempt each felt for the other.  Simnet, a newcomer in New Hampshire, migrated from London and made his decades of experience in England central to his marketing efforts.  He accused local watchmakers, Griffith included, of lacking the skill and expertise he possessed.  In turn, Griffith asserted that Simnet was an itinerant just as likely to steal watches as repair them.  In general, Simnet adopted the more abusive approach, regularly jabbing at Griffith even when Griffith declined to reciprocate.

This bit of entertainment, all of the proclamations and even poems that caricatured Griffith, came to an end when Simnet departed New Hampshire and set up shop in New York near the end of the summer of 1770.  He placed advertisements in the New-York Journal, but then remained fairly quiet.  If he had disagreements with other watchmakers, he chose not to air those grievances in advertisements.  In turn, Griffith advertised less frequently in the New-Hampshire Gazette.  His subsequent advertisements did not feature the bluster incorporated into many he published during the time Simnet kept shop in Portsmouth.  For instance, his advertisement from late March 1771 simply informed prospective clients that he “REPAIRS and cleans WATCHES in a faithful Manner” and that he sold “all sorts of Watch Ware, such as Springs, Chains, Seals, Keys,” and other items.

Eighteenth-century advertisers rarely mentioned their competitors or engaged with them directly in the public prints.  For a time, Griffith and Simnet were exceptions, but both reverted to standard practices after Simnet relocated to another market.  He made a fresh start with prospective clients unfamiliar with his war of words with Griffith in New Hampshire.  What about Griffith?  What kind of lasting effects, if any, did his public feud with Simnet have on his business in Portsmouth and nearby towns?  Did that feud continue to shape how prospective customers viewed the watchmaker?

Slavery Advertisements Published March 29, 1771

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonists encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonists who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in colonial American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Connecticut Journal (March 29, 1771).

March 28

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-York Journal (March 28, 1771).

“A SERMON, on the Death of the Revs. Mr. GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”

The simultaneous commemoration and commodification of George Whitefield’s death in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on September 30, 1770, continued six months later in the March 28, 1771, edition of the New-York Journal.  John Holt, printer of that newspaper, announced that he “Just published … A SERMON, on the Death of the Rev.d Mr. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, preached at his own Tabernacle in Moor-Fields, &c. by the Reverend Mr. JOHN WESLEY.”  A week earlier, Holt attempted to generate demand in advance of publication with a notice that the sermon was “Now in the Press.”  Coverage of Whitefield’s death, coverage that likely spurred sales of commemorative items, tapered off by the end of 1770 once newspaper printers throughout the colonies reprinted accounts that originated in Boston and then printed and reprinted news of local reactions.  When reports of reactions in England arrived after several months, printers like Holt had new opportunities to continue coverage of Whitefield’s death and to profit from commodifying that event.

Immediately following the death of one of the most prominent ministers associated with the eighteenth-century religious revivals now known as the Great Awakening, printers, booksellers, and others marketed a variety of memorabilia, including poems, hymnals, and funeral sermons.  The production and dissemination of these items supplemented other mourning rituals, while also giving consumers opportunities to experience through their purchases events they did not witness.  Such was the case with publishing funeral sermons, especially those originally delivered in faraway places.  Robert Wells, printer of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, for instance, advertised a funeral sermon given in Savannah in the neighboring colony of Georgia.  Holt gave consumers access to a sermon preached much farther away when he reprinted Wesley’s sermon.  This enhanced the sense of collective mourning.  Colonists were not alone in honoring Whitefield’s life and grieving his death; instead, they were the first to express their sorrow, eventually joined by counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic.  Reprinting and selling Wesley’s funeral sermon was not merely a matter of honoring the departed minister.  Holt also provided a proxy for participating in commemorations in England, thus making American consumers feel like part of a transatlantic community of the faithful who mourned Whitefield.

Slavery Advertisements Published March 28, 1771

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonists encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonists who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in colonial American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Maryland Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter (March 28, 1771).

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New-York Journal (March 28, 1771).

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New-York Journal (March 28, 1771).

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New-York Journal (March 28, 1771).

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Pennsylvania Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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Pennsylvania Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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Pennsylvania Journal (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

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Virginia Gazette [Rind] (March 28, 1771).

March 27

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Boston Evening-Post (March 25, 1771).

“She has resigned Business to her Son.”

When Susannah Brimmer “resigned Business to her Son,” Andrew Brimmer, in 1771, she (or they) placed an advertisement in the Boston Evening-Post.  The occasion of transferring her business to her son was the first time that Susannah’s name appeared in the public prints.  She did not previously advertise when she operated the shop.  A week after the advertisement first appeared, two versions ran on March 25.  Susannah or Andrew or the two working together updated the original advertisement.

The placement of these two advertisements helps to explain the likely sequence of events.  The original version appeared on the fourth page.  The updated version appeared on the third page.  Like most other newspapers published in the 1770s, the Boston Evening-Post consisted of four pages created by printing two pages on each side of a broadsheet and then folding it in half.  The first and fourth pages, the “outside” of the newspaper, were printed simultaneously, as were the second and third pages, the “inside” of the newspaper.  Usually, the first and fourth pages were printed first.  That means that even though readers who perused the Boston Evening-Post from start to finish encountered the updated version first, it most likely was printed after the original version they eventually encountered on the last page.

The additional copy in the updated version made that even more likely.  More than doubling the amount of space occupied by the original version, the new copy listed dozens of items available at the shop.  The first portion retained the copy and layout for all but the final two lines.  The compositor made minor revisions that introduced a transition to the catalog of goods.  Who was responsible for extending the advertisement so significantly?  Given that Susannah never previously advertised, even though she made other astute entrepreneurial decisions, like making improvements to her shop, should the list of goods and the expense of publishing it be attributed to Andrew?  Was this an innovation that he introduced when he took control of the business?  Did Susannah make recommendations about strategies for relaunching the business in the public prints?  What explains the two variants of the advertisement and the timing of their publication?  Do the two versions represent different visions for establishing a presence in the public prints?  Or did other factors play a role in an updated version of their advertisement running in the same issue as the original version?  What stories about the intersections of gender, family, and business might these advertisements suggest but not fully reveal?

March 26

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

“The Publisher will give two Copies gratis to such as shall collect One Dozen of Subscribers.”

When John Fleeming of Boston set about publishing what he billed as “The first Bible ever printed in America” he advertised widely in the colonial press.  He launched his marketing efforts in newspapers published in Boston and other towns in New England, but over time his subscription notices also ran in newspapers in far distant cities.  One version appeared in the March 26, 1771, edition of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette.  Though lengthy, it was not as extensive as some variants of the advertisement.  It did not include a testimonial from George Whitefield concerning an earlier English edition that incorporated “Annotations and Parallel Scriptures, By the late Rev. SAMUEL CLARKE.”  Fleeming intended to include the same supplementary material in his American edition.

In order to make this enterprise viable, Fleeming sought subscribers who reserved copies in advance.  To that end, he cultivated networks of local agents.  The publisher started with newspaper printers who ran his advertisement, but he also encouraged others to join his efforts.  He offered premiums to those who accepted his invitation.  “In order to encourage Booksellers, Country Traders, &c. to promote Subscriptions for this grand and useful Work,” Fleeming declared, “the Publisher will give two Copies gratis to such as shall collect One Dozen of Subscribers.”  Fleeming also expected these local agents to distribute copies to their subscribers and collect payment.

In addition to placing newspaper advertisements that laid out the terms of subscribing, he also printed separately subscription papers for local agents.  Those “Proposal” likely included the same conditions as appeared in newspaper advertisements and Whitefield’s endorsement as well as space for subscribers to add their names.  In turn, subscribers and prospective subscribers could examine the list to see the company they kept or could keep by supporting the project.  Some local agents may have posted subscription papers in their shops, putting them on display before the community.  The proposals also specified that “Subscribers Names will be printed.”  Fleeming asked booksellers, country traders, and others interested in becoming local agents to contact him for copies of the proposals.  In the version of the advertisement that ran in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, he named Robert Wells, printer of that newspaper, in Charleston and James Johnston, printer of the Georgia Gazette, in Savannah as local agents who collected subscriptions.

Fleeming promoted this annotated “FAMILY BIBLE” as a “laudable Undertaking.”  It was certainly an undertaking that required coordination with others before going to press.  The publisher advertised widely and established networks of local agents.  To increase the number of subscribers, he offered premiums to local agents who met the threshold of getting commitments from at least a dozen subscribers.  Fleeming did not envision this endeavor as a Boston edition for residents of Boston but instead as an American edition for readers and consumers throughout the colonies.

Slavery Advertisements Published March 26, 1771

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonists encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonists who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in colonial American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Connecticut Courant (March 26, 1771).

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Essex Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina and American General Gazette (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

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South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 26, 1771).

March 25

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Boston-Gazette (March 25, 1771).

“Said Gazette has an extensive Circulation.”

In the eighteenth century, some newspaper printers used the colophon on the final page to promote subscriptions and advertising, but not every printer did so.  Samuel Hall, printer of the Essex Gazette, regularly updated his colophon.  In March 1771, the colophon informed readers of the subscription price, “Six Shillings and Eight Pence per Annum, (exclusive of Postage),” and the advertising rates, “Three Shillings” for notices “not exceeding eight or ten Lines.”  Printers often inserted notices calling on subscribers, advertisers, and others to settle accounts or face legal action, but they rarely advertised their own newspapers to prospective subscribers or potential advertisers.

That made Hall an exception.  He began in his own newspaper, printed in Salem, Massachusetts, with a brief notice on March 12, 1771.  Hall informed “Gentlemen, in and near Boston, who have signified their Desire of becoming Subscribers” that Thomas Walley accepted subscriptions at his store on Dock Square.  Two weeks later, Hall placed an advertisement in the Boston-Gazette, hoping to reach a greater number of readers.  He once again listed Walley as his local agent in Boston.  He also explained that he printed the Essex Gazette on Tuesdays and instructed subscribers that they could “apply for their Papers” at Walley’s store “every Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Hall did not limit his advertisement to seeking subscribers this time around.  He devoted eight of the thirteen lines to soliciting advertising for the Essex Gazette.  Addressing “Those Gentlemen who may have Occasion to advertise,” Hall proclaimed that his newspaper had “an extensive Circulation, particularly in every Town in the County of Essex.”  Furthermore, he declared that the Essex Gazette was “universally read in the large Sea Port Towns of Salem, Marblehead, Glocester and Newbury-Port” as well as “many other considerable Towns in that County.”  That was not the extent of the newspaper’s dissemination, according to the printer.  He noted that it also “circulated in most of the Towns on the Eastern Road as far as Casco-Bay” (today part of Maine).

In his efforts to increase the number of advertisers (and enhance an important revenue stream) for the Essex Gazette, Hall focused on the circulation of his newspaper.  After all, prospective advertisers knew that placing notices in any newspaper was a good investment only if a significant number of readers actually saw their advertisements.  Hall carefully delineated the reach of the Essex Gazette to reassure “Gentlemen who may have Occasion to advertise” that his newspaper had established a significant readership in the region.