What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“THOMAS & MARY GRIFFITH, Are removed from Christian-street, to … Sixth-street.”
When Thomas Griffith and Mary Griffith took the pages of the Pennsylvania Gazette at the end of January 1774, they incorporated the same headline they used in their advertisement the previous August. They promoted their services “TO THE LADIES” of Philadelphia and nearby towns, Thomas his “FAN-MAKING business” and Mary cleaning various kinds of laces “to look like new. The Griffiths had recently “removed from Christian-street” and now operated their businesses on Sixth Street, occasioning the new advertisement.
Despite deploying the same headline, this notice was shorter than the other one. Perhaps the Griffiths felt that they had established their reputations in Philadelphia and did not need to provide as much information for a clientele that they wished to follow them to their new location as they had when they introduced themselves upon arriving in a new city. Thomas had described himself as a “Fan-Maker from London, but last from Charlestown,” but did not do so in the new advertisement, nor did he go into any detail except to say that he “intends to continue the FAN-MAKING business in general.” Similarly, Mary provided only a brief overview, but did not mention her “new method” for cleaning laces to entice prospective customers. The Griffiths did “return thanks to the Ladies for the encouragement they received,” another suggestion that they had cultivated a clientele over the last six months.
The secondary headline for their new advertisement included both their names, “THOMAS & MARY GRIFFITH,” whereas Thomas’s name alone ran as the secondary headline in their other advertisement. This time, Mary’s contribution to the household economy received the same visibility as Thomas’s “FAN-MAKING business,” though his enterprise still received top billing. It may have been that publishing a shorter advertisement prompted this change, though the Griffiths may have also realized that Mary’s enterprise brought as many or more of “THE LADIES” to the shop in their house as the fans that Thomas made and sold. Whatever convinced them to take a new approach, they apparently considered their previous newspaper advertisements effective enough to merit investing in a new advertisement when they moved to a new location.