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

“PROPOSALS For Printing by Subscription, a FREE and IMPARTIAL WEEKLY NEWS-PAPER.”

As the imperial crisis intensified, the number of newspapers published in Philadelphia, the largest city in the colonies, grew significantly.  Throughout the early 1770s, readers had access to Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, the Pennsylvania Gazette, and the Pennsylvania Journal.  Until February 1774, the Pennsylvania Chronicle had also circulated in Philadelphia.  Less than a year after that newspaper folded, Benjamin Towne commenced publication of the Pennsylvania Evening Post, the first tri-weekly newspaper attempted in that city, on January 24, 1775, and James Humphrey, Jr., distributed the first issue of the Pennsylvania Ledger four days later.  Enoch Story and Daniel Humphreys also advertised plans for another newspaper, the Pennsylvania Mercury.  They published their inaugural issue in April 1775, two weeks before the battles at Lexington and Concord.

On January 25, the Pennsylvania Journal carried the proposals for both the Pennsylvania Ledger and the Pennsylvania Mercury, placing them side by side on the final page.  As was customary, the printers gave an overview of why they wished to publish their newspapers, explained what subscribers could expect among the contents, and listed the conditions for subscribing.  Among the various purposes the Pennsylvania Mercury would serve, Story and Humphreys included, “To communicate advertisements of every kind.”  The printers of both proposed newspapers sought advertisements, an essential revenue stream for any printer publishing a newspaper.  After noting the prices for subscriptions to the Pennsylvania Ledger, Humphreys indicated, “Advertisements to be inserted on the same terms as is usual with the other papers in this city.”  For the Pennsylvania Mercury, Story and Humphreys declared, “The Rates of the Paper and Advertisements will be the same with those now printed in this City.”  Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet and the Pennsylvania Journal both gave the price for subscriptions – “Ten Shillings per Annum” – in their colophons, but none of the newspapers then printed in Philadelphia regularly published what they charged for advertising.  Apparently, according to the proposals for the Pennsylvania Ledger and the Pennsylvania Mercury, none offered better deals than others.

Story and Humphreys did give a bit more attention to advertising in their proposals.  “All Advertisements,” they promised, “shall be inserted in order as they come in, and shall appear in a fair and conspicuous manner.”  They did not mean that paid notices would literally appear one after the other in the order received at the printing office but rather that a compositor would set type in that order and integrate them into the layout of the newspaper without privileging any later arrivals over those submitted sooner.  After all, newspaper printers sometimes inserted notes that advertisements had been omitted due to lack of space.  Story and Humphreys signaled that they would not take anything into consideration beyond the order that advertisers delivered their notices when delaying publication of some.  They also acknowledged that compositors arranged content to make pieces of different lengths complete columns and fill pages.  During that process, they would not privilege any advertisements over others, displaying each “in a fair and conspicuous manner.”  With such appeals, Story and Humphreys solicited the trust of prospective advertisers who wanted a good return on the money they invested in disseminating information in the Pennsylvania Mercury.

Neither of these proposals for new newspapers discussed advertising extensively, but each did seek advertisers along with subscribers.  Whatever goals they expressed for circulating news as the political situation deteriorated, the viability of pursuing their ideals of publishing “improving, instructive and entertaining” information depended in large part on recruiting advertisers as well as enlisting subscribers.