What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“As low Rates as can be purchased at any Shop or Store in Boston or elsewhere.”
When the proprietor of “HILL’s Variety Store” took to the pages of the Providence Gazette near the end of January 1774, his advertisement promoted a “compleat Assortment of English, Scotch and India Goods,” listed about a dozen items, and promised “every other Article usually imported, too many to be enumerated in this Week’s Paper.” That final note suggested that either the printer had truncated the advertisement due to space constraints or the advertiser had not yet compiled a more complete inventory to insert in the public prints. It may very well have been the latter, considering that three weeks passed before a more extensive advertisement appeared in the Providence Gazette.
And more extensive it certainly was! That advertisement filled nearly an entire column in the February 12 edition. The merchant devoted most of that space to a catalog of “English, India, Scotch, Irish and Dutch GOODS,” demonstrating the range of choices available to consumers. Divided into two columns with only one item per line, making it easier for readers to navigate than the dense paragraphs of text in some advertisements, this notice included many kinds of textiles and accessories, “Womens calamanco shoes,” “Mens and boys new fashioned macaroni beaveret and beaver hats,” “Mens and womens leather and silk gloves and mitts,” “Pinchbeck and plated shoe and knee buckles,” “Violins, fifes, and German flutes,” and even an “assortment of toys for children.” Prospective customers could expect to discover much more at “HILL’s ready Money and Variety Store.” (The variation on the name suggested that they would need to pay at the time of sale rather than purchase on credit, but a note at the end of the advertisements indicated “Hollow Ware, Bar-Iron, and West-India Goods, taken in Exchange for any of the above Articles.”) The list of goods began with a clarification that “Among his Assortment are the following Articles,” while the catalog concluded with “&c.” (an abbreviation for et cetera) to signal that even more was available at the store.
Yet such appeals to consumer choice were not the only marketing strategies deployed by the merchant. A preamble to his inventory reported that he sold his goods both wholesale and retail “at as low Rates as can be purchased at any Shop or Store in Boston or elsewhere.” He realized that he did not compete solely with local merchants and shopkeepers but also with their counterparts in Boston, Newport, New York, and other towns. He did not want shopkeepers in the countryside turning to importers in other ports to supply their inventory. Such wholesale purchases could amount to significant revenue. At the same time, he did not ignore consumers interested in retail purchases. The merchant stated that “the smallest Favours” or purchases would be “gratefully acknowledged.” Between the selection and the prices, he hoped prospective customers would come to the “Sign of the ELEPHANT” in King Street to acquire goods they needed to supplement inventories at their own shops or that they wanted for their own use.