What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“WATCH MAIN SPRINGS MADE in Philadelphia.”
The headline proclaimed, “WATCH MAIN SPRINGS.” Matthia Eyre, “SPRING MAKER from London,” hoped that would draw attention to his advertisement in the March 4, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post. He informed readers, especially “Watchmakers in this and the neighbouring Provinces,” that he sold spring he produced in the colonies at the house on Third Street in Philadelphia. In addition, watchmaker John Wood also stocked Eyre’s watch springs at his shop on Front Street.
Eyre asserted that “Watchmakers and others may be supplied with any Quantity of Springs much cheaper than can be afforded when imported from England.” The price in combination with the “good Quality of the Springs” prompted the “Manufacturer” to suggest that he merited the “Encouragement” of watchmakers who needed parts. Eyre likely composed his advertisement with confidence that both prospective customers and the public would consider his appeals in the context of current events, including the nonimportation agreement currently in place to protest the Coercive Acts.
The First Continental Congress devised the Continental Association in the fall of 1774. The first article of that pact prohibited importing “any such Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, as shall have been exported from Great Britain.” The eighth article, in turn, called for “encourag[ing] Frugality, Economy, and Industry; and promot[ing] Agriculture, Arts, and the Manufactures of this Country.” Eyre offered an alternative to the watch springs that colonizers were no longer supposed to import, making it easier for them to abide by the Continental Association. They could do so without sacrificing the quality of the parts they used in their work. In addition, they had a duty to support a local “Manufacturer” in those troubling times.
Yet those “Watchmakers in this and the neighbouring Provinces” were not the only colonizers who read Eyre’s advertisement. The spring maker enhanced his reputation in his community while simultaneously providing an example of American industriousness that answered the challenges of that tense political moment. Readers could hardly peruse Eyre’s notice without having the Continental Association in mind. He signaled to them that he answered the call, one of many artisans prepared to serve the American cause through his efforts in his workshop.