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

“MAKES all Sorts of Gentlemens and Ladies Saddles, in the neatest and best Manner.”

John Sebring, a “Saddler and Cap-Maker, from London,” once again took to the pages of the Providence Gazette in the summer of 1774.  As had been his practice in the past, he deployed solely his last name as a headline for his advertisement, presumably believing that a mononym gave him greater cachet with prospective customers.  He declared that he “MAKES all Sorts of Gentlemens and Ladies Saddles, in the neatest and best Manner” as well as “all Sorts of Saddle Bags, Bridles, Holsters, Half Covers, Velvet Jockey-Caps,” and other items.  He intended for readers to associate quality with the name Sebring.

In addition to the mononym, Sebring apparently believed that his experience in London enhanced the image he presented to the public, though it had been some time since he resided and worked in that cosmopolitan center of the empire.  When they proclaimed that they were “from London,” artisans often linked those origins to superior training or more intimate knowledge of current styles or both.  Sebring did in his previous newspaper notices.  By the time he placed his advertisement in the July 9, 1774, edition of the Providence Gazette, however, he had been in that town for at least twenty months.  That may have caused him to place less emphasis on his supposed knowledge of London fashions.  In previous advertisements, he used the phrase “newest Fashion” to describe the saddles and other items he made in his workshop “At the White Horse, near the Great Bridge,” implying that his connections to London gave him insight into the latest styles there.  He even included the phrase twice in a notice he ran the previous summer.  In this advertisement, however, he focused on quality instead of (rather than in addition to) fashion.  Perhaps Sebring realized that many prospective customers knew he had not worked in London recently so his familiarity with the styles there came secondhand.  The training and experience he gained in London, however, did not change as time passed, making it worthwhile to continue to remind prospective customers of his origins.