What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“ADVERTISEMENTS, of a moderate Length, are inserted for 3s. the first Week.”
It was the third version of the masthead for the Virginia Gazette in three weeks. Clementina Rind had been printing the newspaper for more than a year since her husband, William, died in August 1773. During that time, the masthead included the title and the motto, “OPEN TO ALL PARTIES, BUT INFLUENCED BY NONE,” as well as the colophon. It also incorporated an advertisement for subscribing, placing advertisements, and job printing undertaken in the printing office. Placing the colophon with the masthead aided in distinguishing Rind’s Virginia Gazette from a newspaper of the same name printed by Alexander Purdie and John Dixon. For their part, Rind’s competitors similarly presented their names in the masthead of their newspaper rather than placing the colophon at the bottom of the last page. They did, however, reserve that space for an advertisement about subscriptions, advertisements, and job printing.
On September 22, 1774, the colophon for Rind’s Virginia Gazette stated, “PRINTED BY CLEMENTINA RIND,” for the last time. The following week, it read, “PRINTED BY JOHN PINKNEY, FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLEMENTINA RIND’s ESTATE.” At a glance, readers knew that a death had occurred: the thin lines that usually separated the title, motto, colophon, and advertisement had been replaced with much thicker lines that resembled the mourning borders that often appeared in early American newspapers. Pinkney reverted to the thin lines for the October 6 edition, also updating the colophon once again. Now it declared, “PRINTED BY JOHN PINKNEY, FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLEMENTINA RIND’s CHILDREN.” The local news included a poem, “ON THE DEATH OF MRS. RIND,” submitted by a “CONSTANT READER.”
The conditions for subscribing remained the same. Pinkney charged twelve shilling and six pence per year, the same price as Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia Gazette. The fees for advertising also continued. Customers could place notices “of a moderate Length” for three shillings for the first week and two shillings for each additional insertion. The extra shilling in the first week covered the costs for setting the type. As was the case in newspapers throughout the colonies, the rate changed for lengthier advertisements: “long ones in Proportion” to the base price. Purdie and Dixon charged the same prices for advertising in their newspaper. The advertisement in the masthead also advised, “PRINTING WORK, of every Kind, executed with Care and Dispatch.” Publication of the Virginia Gazette continued with little disruption to subscribers and advertisers despite the death of the printer. Pinkney had likely worked in the printing office with Rind during her tenure as printer, ready to assume responsibility for the business when she died.
