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

“A CONSTITUTIONAL POST-OFFICE is established in this town.”

Isaiah Thomas, the printer of Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy, gained a new title in the fall of 1775.  He became the postmaster for the “CONSTITUTIONAL POST-OFFICE” in Worcester.  In an advertisement in the November 17 edition of his newspaper, he informed the public that “the Post-Mater General of the United Colonies” established the post office in Worcester.  That meant that “letters sent to this office, may be dispatched to all the principal towns on the continent” via a network of post offices and riders authorized by the Second Continental Congress as an alternative to the imperial postal system.  Thomas provided a schedule.  Outgoing mail “sent by the Eastern Post is closed every Tuesday evening by six o’clock.”  For outgoing mail, the post office dispatched letter received “Friday morning by nine o’clock.”  That corresponded with the arrival of new mail: “The Western mail arrives at this OFFICE every Tuesday evening; and the Eastern, every Friday morning.”  Patrons who planned accordingly could use the new postal system to correspond with friends, relatives, and associates throughout the colonies.

Thomas gave this advertisement a prominent place when he published it, placing it immediately below a notice that the Second Continental Congress created a committee to compile a “just and well authenticated account of the hostilities committed by the ministerial troops and navy in America since March last,” including “proper evidence of the truth of the facts related.”  In documenting buildings destroyed, vessels seized, and stock taken, they justified their resistance and engaged in public relations to demonstrate that colonizers had legitimate grievances.  Thomas could have placed any number of other advertisements below that notice, yet he opted for one that promoted another effort undertaken by the Second Continental Congress to protect American liberties.  It was a fitting editorial decision for a newspaper with American Oracle of Liberty as its secondary title.  In this instance, Thomas deployed an advertisement as a continuation of news about current events, keeping readers updated not only about what occurred but also about how they could support the American cause.