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

“Good Attendance will be given, and Favours gratefully acknowledged.”

Unlike modern marketing, the advertisements disseminated during December in the eighteenth century did not take note of Christmas or associate consumerism with the holiday.  In the December 25, 1773, edition of the Providence Gazette, John Carter, the printer, did insert “A CHRISTMAS CAROL,” consisting of four stanzas, in the upper left corner of the final page of the newspaper.  In several other colonial newspapers, the “Poet’s Corner,” a weekly feature, occupied that space, a verse for that week’s issue appearing alongside the advertisements that filled the rest of the page.  Carter’s carol appeared in proximity to advertisements for consumer goods and services, but also apart.  Marketers did not yet widely depict Christmas as an occasion for making purchases.

That being the case, Humphry Palmer’s advertisement for a “Variety of European, East and West-India GOODS” did not make any special appeals that would not have appeared in the notice had he published it at some other time of the year.  Instead, he tended to some of the mechanics of shopping, describing the location of his store for prospective customers, and attempted to incite demand with promises of a broad selection and good prices.  He confided that he recently arrived in Providence, noting that worked to the advantage of his customers.  “As he is lately from England, and imports his goods,” Palmer declared, “he is determined to sell on such Terms, as he flatters himself will give general Satisfaction to those who may be pleased to oblige him with their Custom.”  His connections in England may have helped him acquire his inventory at low costs.  Perhaps more importantly, his status as a newcomer in town made him realize that the first impression that he made on consumers would become a lasting impression in the community.  He wanted the public to think of good bargains rather than unreasonably high prices when considered shopping at his store.  Palmer also noted that “Good Attendance will be given,” emphasizing customer service.  None of those appeals concerned Christmas or shopping and giving gifts as a holiday pastime.  None of the other advertisements published in the Providence Gazette on Christmas Day or the weeks leading up to it did so either.