What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?
Among the advertisements in the October 11, 1776, edition of the Virginia Gazette, John Dixon and William Hunter promoted “THE VIRGINIA ALMANACK For the Year 1777.” The printers informed the public that the helpful reference manual was “NOW IN THE PRESS, And in a few Days will be published.” If they wished, customers could place orders for the forthcoming almanac or watch for a subsequent announcement that it was available for sale. The initial advertisement helped readers make plans while inciting demand. In their advertisement, Dixon and Hunter merely announced the imminent publication of the almanac. Sometimes printers devoted significant amounts of space to listing the contents of almanacs, another strategy for generating interest among readers.
It was not the first advertisement for an almanac for 1777 to appear in the public prints in 1776, but it was one of the few. Francis Bailey advertised “THE LANCASTER ALMANACK, for the year 1777,” in the Pennsylvania Gazette a month earlier. Usually, printers in several cities and towns began advertising almanacs for the coming year as fall arrived, giving customers plenty of time to acquire them. Those customers included retailers who purchased in volume to sell again in their own shops. In other years, a few advertisements for almanacs began appearing in newspapers in late summer. More ran in September and October, with the most in November and December. Printers continued advertising surplus copies in January, with newspaper notices tapering off in February and March. In the fall of 1776, however, the number and frequency of advertisements about the production and dissemination of almanacs lagged compared to previous years. Upheavals caused by the war, including paper shortages, likely contributed to the disruption and delay in the annual rhythm of marketing almanacs in early American newspapers. Certainly not the greatest concern of readers and consumers, this was still one way that the war altered their everyday experiences and routines.