What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“An assortment of goods suitable to the season.”
A little more than four months after James Rivington commenced publication of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, many of the advertisements in that newspaper had a notable feature intended to attract readers’ attention. Borders composed of decorative type enclosed five of the advertisements in the September 2, 1773, edition. That gave the section devoted to advertising a distinctive look compared to the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury and the New-York Journal. During that week, the latter did not carry any advertisements with borders. The former carried one with a border, a short notice about “KEYSER’s PILLS” placed by Hugh Gaine.
Gaine happened to be the printer of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury. Although he adorned one of his own advertisements with a border, he also appeared to reserve that format for his exclusive use. S. Sp. Skinner, a distiller, ran advertisements for “the best of RUM” with identical copy in both publications, with a border in Rivington’s newspaper and without a border in Gaine’s newspaper. The distiller also advertised, without a border, in the New-York Journal. Rivington or a compositor in his printing office experimented with a format that enhanced the visual appeal of advertisements. They either offered borders to advertisers or some advertisers learned that Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer would accommodate such requests.
Other advertisements with identical copy in multiple newspapers demonstrate that Rivington incorporated a visual element not available in other printing offices in New York. Robert Murray and John Murray ran an announcement that they dissolved their partnership and requested that “Persons Indebted to them” settle their accounts or face legal action. Their advertisement had a border in Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, but not in the New-York Gazette or Weekly Mercury or the New-York Journal. Similarly, T.B. Atwood placed an advertisement for his “Medicinal Store” in all three newspapers. It featured side-by-side columns listing patent medicines and other merchandise in each of them, apparently a format specified by the advertiser, but only Rivington’s newspaper enclosed Atwood’s notice within a decorative border. Not only did the advertisement have a border, that border consisted of decorative type different from any that surrounded other advertisements or separated news accounts in that issue. Taking the service to a higher level, the compositor chose printing ornaments that made the borders for each advertisement unique.
Vincent Pearse Ashfield’s advertisement for coffee, tea, wine, and spirits also appeared in two newspapers, the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury and Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, but embellished with a border in only one. All of the advertisers whose notices had borders in Rivington’s newspaper – Ashfield, Atwood, the Murrays, and Skinner – simultaneously placed the same advertisement in at least one other newspaper. Despite the identical copy, only the notices in Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer incorporated borders, suggesting that Rivington’s printing office worked with advertisers to offer an option not available in other newspapers. In addition to drawing attention to those advertisements, that made the pages of Rivington’s new newspaper easy to recognize and perhaps more interesting for readers.