What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“Had the Fire got to any Height, it would have raged to an unknown Degree, for Want of Buckets to supply the Engines.”
Newspaper advertisements often delivered local news that did not appear elsewhere in the publication. Such was the case in the wake of a fire in Providence that took place on January 21, 1774. The following day the Providence Gazettereported, “Yesterday Evening the Town was alarmed by the Cry of Fire, which proved to be in the Pot-Ash Works, on the West Side of the Bridge; but by timely Assistance it was suppressed before much Damage had ensued.” John Carter, the printer, downplayed the danger, perhaps unintentionally. He did not have much time to gather information about the fire before the newspaper went to press, so important details did not appear in the Providence Gazette until the next issue. When they did, they ran among the paid notices rather than in the news that Carter compiled.
On January 29, the newspaper carried an advertisement that transmitted an “Order of the Engine-Company, No. 1,” to residents of the town. The dateline indicated it had been written the day after the fire, the same day as the previous issue of the Providence Gazette, but too late to appear in the weekly publication. “WHEREAS it was observed at the Place of the Fire last Evening,” the advertisement proclaimed, “that the greater Part of the People attending had no Buckets; and it is generally thought, that had the Fire got to any Height it would have raged to an unknown Degree, for Want of Buckets to supply the Engines: Therefore all Families, for their own Preservation, are required to provide themselves with Buckets immediately.” Carter’s initial reporter emphasized “timely Assistance” that “suppressed” the fire “before much Damage had ensued,” but this subsequent advertisement underscored how catastrophic the fire could have been as a result of so many residents not being prepared to provide the right kind of assistance. Not only had they been negligent, they also disregarded a local ordinance. The Engine Company instructed “all Families” to acquire buckets so they could provide aid in the future not only “for their own Preservation” but also to “avoid the Penalty of the Law.” The advertisement concluded with a warning about “an Examination being intended to be made throughout the Town, and the Law put into Execution.”
Those details likely spread by word of mouth in the week between the fire and the advertisement running in the Providence Gazette, so Carter may not have considered it necessary to include the additional details among the local news. In addition, having received the Engine Company’s advertisement in the printing office, he probably thought it a sufficient update. Readers who lived at any distance would have been less likely to hear that so many people who showed up to the fire could not assist in putting it out because they did not bring buckets, so the advertisement did indeed present new news to them. As was so often the case, collating information in news articles and advertisements yielded more complete coverage of local events.