Daily Advert Update

October 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (October 11, 1776).

“Persons intrusted with PROPOSALS for Re-printing the Penitential Cries, are desired to return them in to Judah P. Spooner.”

Among the various advertisements in the October 11, 1776, edition of the Connecticut Gazette, one notice instructed “Those Persons intrusted with PROPOSALS for Re-printing the Penitential Cries … to turn them in to Judah P. Spooner, of Norwich at or before the first Day of November next.”  This followed a common practice for publishing books in the eighteenth century.  Before taking a book to press, printers distributed subscription proposals that promoted the work and gave details about publication (such as price and the quality of the paper and type).  They asked consumers to reserve copies by subscribing for them.  Printers or local agents acting on their behalf, compiled lists of subscribers.  Subscription proposals simultaneously drummed up demand for books and let printers know how many copies to print so they did not end up with surplus copies that resulted in taking a loss on the project.  Sometimes subscription proposals did not yield enough subscribers to make a project viable; in those cases, they were an important tool for conducting market research.

According to this advertisement, however, Spooner’s effort to publish Penitential Cries did attract “a sufficient number of Subscribers to incourage the Printing said Book.”  Now he needed to add any subscribers not yet brought to his attention to his list so he could print copies for all of them and perhaps a small number of unclaimed copies in hopes of making additional sales.  Spooner likely proposed publishing John Mason’s Spiritual Songs: Or, Songs of Praise with Penitential Cries to Almighty God, upon Several Occasions.  At least five editions had been printed in the colonies, including a “fifteenth edition corrected” printed by Thomas Fleet for bookseller Daniel Henchman in Boston in 1742 and, most recently, a “sixteenth edition corrected” printed by Thomas Fleet and John Fleet in Boston in 1774.  (References to the edition did not always align.  For instance, Hugh Gaine printed a “seventeenth edition, corrected,” in New York in 1765, nearly a decade before the Fleets published their “sixteenth edition corrected.”  Zachariah Fowle also published a “seventeenth edition, corrected,” in Boston in 1765.)

Seeking to publish a book was a bold venture in the fall of 1776.  The war caused all sorts of disruptions; in particular, printers scrambled for paper to continue publishing their newspapers.  They frequently ran advertisements calling for readers to provide rags to recycle into paper, sometimes warning that the fate of the newspaper itself depended on compliance with those requests.  Spooner apparently thought that he had access to the paper he needed in addition to “a sufficient number of Subscribers.”  If he did print the book, however, no copy survives.  The next known American edition was indeed printed in Norwich, but not until 1783 when John Trumbull, the printer of the Norwich Packet, published his “fifteenth edition.”  Spooner’s advertisement suggested that he was on the brink of successfully printing the book, but gathering attracting subscribers may not have been enough.  Other circumstances likely prevented him from finishing the project.

October 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (October 10, 1776).

“Excellent GREEN and BOHEA TEA.”

An advertisement in the October 10, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post alerted readers that a “SALE of a neat assortment of MERCHANDIZE, being the remains of a store,” would take place “at JOHN HART’s VENDUE store” on the following Tuesday.  The notice listed an array of textiles that rivaled many of the lists published in newspaper advertisements before the war, including “velvets and velverets, rattinets, shalloons, calimancoes, tammies, … white and embossed serges and flannels, chintzes, cottons, calicoes and printed linens.”  Eighteenth-century consumers could distinguish among that variety of fabrics and many more.

In addition to that “MERCHANDIZE,” the advertisement also highlighted “Excellent GREEN and BOHEA TEA.”  For a time, tea had been a prohibited item.  Patriots in Boston tossed tea into the harbor in December 1773 and made bonfires of tea in other communities to protest the duties and other regulations on colonial commerce imposed by Parliament.  Tea figured prominently in the Continental Association, a nonimportation and nonconsumption pact devised by the Second Continental Congress in the fall of 1774.  Advertisements for tea disappeared from American newspapers for a while, but circumstances changed once the war began.  Once the king declared the colonies in rebellion and ordered the closure of ports at the end of March 1776, nonimportation and nonconsumption testified to the effectiveness of the British blockade rather than the Continental Association.  In addition, some merchants claimed that they possessed tea that they smuggled into the colonies but did not have a chance to sell before the Continental Association went into effect.  On April 13, 1776, Congress allowed for selling and consuming tea.  Tea began to appear in newspaper advertisements once again, though not nearly as often as it had in the 1760s and early 1770s.  More tea hit the market as the result of privateers capturing British ships and their cargoes.  The advertisement for the sale of tea at Hart’s Vendue Store did not mention the origins of that tea, though the local committee of inspection may have cleared it for sale.

With the extensive list of textiles and the “Excellent GREEN and BOHEA TEA,” the advertisement for an upcoming sale of a “neat assortment of MERCHANDIZE” resembled advertisements that so frequently appeared in American newspapers before the war.  However sincere their political principles, consumers still desired all sorts of goods.  As the Continental Association eroded, they resumed their previous purchasing habits.

October 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Maryland Journal (October 9, 1776).

“BLANKS AND HAND BILLS are done on the shortest NOTICE, in a NEAT and CORRECT MANNER.”

As was the case for many eighteenth-century newspapers, the Maryland Journal featured an array of advertisements and concluded with a colophon that served as a final advertisement, one that repeated from issue to issue every week.  Not every colophon advertised the goods and services available at the printing office where the newspaper was published.  Some merely gave the name of the printer and the town.  The Maryland Journal and many others, however, had lengthy colophons that hawked subscriptions and solicited job printing.

In the fall of 1776, the newspaper’s colophon stated, “BALTIMORE: Published by M.K. Goddard, at the PRINTING-OFFICE in MARKET-STREET, next Door above Dr. JOHN STEVENSON’s, where SUBSCRIPTIONS for this PAPER, at TEN SHILLINGS per Annum, ADVERTISEMENTS and INTERESTING ESSAYS, or LETTERS of USEFUL INTELLIGENCE, are gratefully received for this PAPER; and where all MANNER of PRINTING-WORK is performed with CARE, FIDELITY, and EXPEDITION.— BLANKS AND HAND BILLS are done on the shortest NOTICE, in a NEAT and CORRECT MANNER.”

Like many of her male counterparts, Mary Katharine Goddard used the colophon to promote both the newspaper and other aspects of the business she operated.  Her brother, William, established the Maryland Journal in August 1773, but Goddard had been the printer since May 1775.  She included extensive directions to the printing office in the colophon to aid customers seeking to purchase subscriptions, advertisements, or blanks or others with job printing orders for handbills and other items.  In addition, advertisements often instructed interested parties to “enquire of the printer” to learn more.  Goddard served as an information broker, supplying details that did not appear in print.  The directions in the colophon helped readers seeking to “enquire of the printer” to find her printing office.  That Goddard included blanks (or printed forms, which could be personalized for an entrepreneur) and handbills in the colophon suggests that she did brisk business in them.  Those forms of advertising media have not been saved and preserved to the extent of newspapers and the advertisements that appeared in them, though they circulated in Baltimore and other cities and towns in eighteenth-century America.  Goddard’s colophon hinted at marketing materials that readers encountered as they went about their daily lives.

October 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (October 8, 1776).

“He proposes giving LECTURES in FRENCH after the most easy and concise method possible.”

Francis Daymon had competition.  For years the “MASTER of the French and Latin Languages” taught “the useful and polite French language in the newest and most expeditious method” to genteel residents of Philadelphia, the most cosmopolitan city in British North America.  He operated and frequently advertised a “FRENCH ACADEMY,” first at his house on Front Street, “nearly opposite the London Coffee-House,” and later “in the Library Room in Carpenters Hall.”  In addition, he offered private lessons to “Ladies and Gentlemen” who wished to be “instructed at their places of abode.”  On October 5, 1776, he advised readers of the Pennsylvania Evening Post that “he continues to instruct gentlemen in the French language in the most expeditious method, agreeable to the late improvements of the French academy.”  Pupils could now find him “on the south side of Market-street, the fifth door below Fourth-street.”

Three days later, Bartholomew le Petite ran his own advertisement in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, addressing the same readers who recently perused Daymon’s notice.  Le Petite informed “the ladies and gentlemen of this city, that he proposed giving LECTURES in FRENCH after the most easy and concise method possible for the scholar to obtain the knowledge and propriety of writing and speaking it with propriety.”  After all, those seeking to deploy their familiarity with the “polite and useful language” to demonstrate their sophistication wished to avoid the embarrassment of clumsy execution that would mark them as pretenders rather than truly genteel.  Le Petite did not make any mention of “the French academy” on the other side of the Atlantic, choosing not to burnish the same sort of credentials that Daymon so often incorporated into his advertisements.  Instead, he focused on making his lessons as accessible as possible via his “most easy and concise method.”  That may have been an attractive prospect to new students as well as students who had been frustrated when receiving lessons from Daymon or others.  Le Petite’s methods might prove the most effective.

Whether learning French for the first time, seeking to expand their vocabulary and improve their pronunciation, or desiring to brush up on their skills, students could compare advertisements from two instructors published within days of each other.  Those advertisements did more than merely announce that French lessons were available.  They played a role in guiding students to the instructors so they could make informed decisions about which one they wished to hire.

October 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury [New York] (October 7, 1776).
“JAMES DEAS … SINCE the late dreadful Fire has removed into the House he formerly lived in.”

In the weeks after the British took possession of New York in September 1776, Hugh Gaine removed to Newark, New Jersey, and printed the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury there.  Without a newspaper in the city they just captured, the British tasked Ambrose Serle with publishing another New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury in New York.  The first issue featured Gaine’s name in the imprint, but it disappeared from subsequent issues until Gaine returned to the city and resumed publication there in November.  The October 7 edition was the first with a masthead that stated, “PRINTED AT THE BIBLE AND CROWN, IN HANOVER SQUARE,” without naming a printer.  The masthead continued to proclaim that the newspaper “Contain[ed] the freshest Advices Foreign and Domestick.”

In addition to news articles and letters, advertisements accounted for those “freshest Advices.”  James Deas, a “PERUKEMAKER and HAIR-DRESSER,” placed a short advertisement to inform the public of his new location.  “SINCE the late dreadful Fire,” he announced, he “has removed into the House he formerly lived in, at the Corner of Broad-Street, near the Exchange.”  He hoped that “his former Friends and Customers” would avail themselves of his services at his new (but familiar) location.  Deas referred to the fire that destroyed more than one-fifth of the city on the night of September 20 and into the morning of September 21, just as the British arrived.  Gaine provided the first coverage of the fire in his New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury printed in Newark on September 21, part of his promise to publish “the freshest Advices Foreign and Domestick” in that newspaper.  For his part, Deas did not comment on the fire beyond describing it as “dreadful.”  Instead, he focused on maintaining his clientele and rebuilding his business.  His advertisement did not reveal his politics, a savvy strategy considering recent events, but the fire raised lots of questions and speculation about whether the retreating American forces set it deliberately.  The fire may very well have been a topic of lively conversation between Deas and his clients as he dressed their hair or took their measurements at his new shop.

October 6

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Freeman’s Journal (October 5, 1776).

“Return or pay for it … or expect a visit from some one more inquisitive than polite.”

During the era of the American Revolution, newspapers frequently carried advertisements about thefts and burglaries, usually describing the items taken and offering rewards for bringing the culprits to justice.  If possible, the victims also wanted the stolen goods returned, asking readers to “stop” or confiscate them if they encountered them in the marketplace.  In some instances, the advertisements identified who had taken the items, but in most cases they relied on describing the goods as a means of identifying the burglars and thieves.  Such instances gave some people, both those who stole the goods and those who purchased them via what Serena Zabin has termed an “informal economy,” opportunities to participate in the transatlantic consumer revolution.

The victim of a theft in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the fall of 1776 seemed to know who had taken “a Piece of back Taffety Ribbon off the counter, in a shop in Queen Street.”  The unfortunate shopkeeper placed an advertisement in the October 5 edition of the Freeman’s Journal, informing the woman who absconded with the ribbon that “the proper owner is not at all disposed to give it to her.”  The shopkeeper advised the shoplifter “to return or pay for” the ribbon “without further notice” or else “expect a visit from some one more inquisitive than polite.”  Whether that person was the shopkeeper, someone with standing to arrest or prosecute the shoplifter, or someone with a more unsavory character, the advertisement did not specify, leaving it to the imagination of the woman who stole the ribbon.  The shopkeeper also noted that the shoplifter took the ribbon “between 12 and 1 o’clock at noon, on Friday the 20th” of September, giving such precise details to imply that the shopkeeper did indeed know the identity of the shoplifter and could dispatch “some one more inquisitive than polite” to visit her to remedy the matter.  Most advertisements about thefts and burglaries called on the public for assistance, but this advertisement about a shoplifter addressed a single reader, the shoplifter herself, as the shopkeeper took a different approach to using the power of the press to recover the stolen goods.

October 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (October 5, 1776).

“A MAP of the present seat of war, with the harbours of New-York and Perth Amboy.”

In early October 1776, John Norman, a “print-seller and engraver,” announced that he had for sale a “MAP of the present seat of war, with the harbours of New-York and Perth Amboy” at his shop on Second Street in Philadelphia.  Such a map would have been of great interest to many readers, whether political leaders, military officers, or civilians, considering that it depicted the British invasion of Long Island and occupation of New York along with the retreat of the Continental Army in August and September.  The map, a visual depiction of the region overlaid with troop movements, served as an important supplement for understanding news about current events.

The phrase “JUST published” that opened Norman’s advertisement did not necessarily mean that he was the engraver or publisher of the map, but it seems likely since he had already established his reputation as an engraver when he produced American editions of architectural manuals and he eventually gained acclaim for engraving other maps depicting the Revolutionary War as well as portraits of Patriot leaders.  At the time of writing this entry, I cannot locate a surviving copy of any map by Norman showing “the present seat of war, with the harbours of New-York and Perth Amboy,” published in 1776.  By the end of the year, engravers and publishers in London issued similar maps, but Norman certainly did not advertise and sell any of those maps.  In addition, his purpose in producing and selling such maps would have been very different than the inspiration for the London editions.  Consider, for instance, The Seat of Action, between the British and American Forces: Or an Authentic Plan of the Western Part of Long Island, with the Engagement of the 27th August 1776 between the King’s Forces and the Americans published by Robert Sayer and John Bennett in London in November 1776.  The catalog entry for that map maintained by the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon explains that the map “contained recent information regarding the British campaign to take New York City.  Printed as a broadside, the information could be transmitted in a timely manner – in this case, two months after the events depicted on the map.  After an embarrassing defeat at Bunker Hill …, Britain was eager to transmit the news of the victory in New York … to an eager audience back in England.”  Considering that Norman previously marketed prints and political cartoons that supported the American cause, he probably sold this “MAP of the present seat of war” as a means of keeping the public informed about current events rather than as a piece of pro-British propaganda.

October 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Essex Journal (October 4, 1777).

“The Sign of the Glove.”

In the fall of 1776, Timothy Dexter stocked a “Large assortment of Moose Leather, and Wash Leather Breeches, made after the best manner” at “his Shop … opposite Somerby’s Landing” in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  In an advertisement in the October 4 edition of the Essex Journal, he informed prospective customers that he would sell his wares “exceeding low for Cash” since he intended to leave the town and wished to liquidate his merchandise.  Readers unfamiliar with Dexter’s shop could look for the “Sign of the Glove” once they were in the vicinity of Somerby’s Landing.  Some towns and cities would introduce standardized street numbers by the end of the century, but until that happened shop signs aided in navigating the streets and identifying businesses.

Like many other shopkeepers in both urban ports and smaller towns, Dexter selected a device to identify his business.  As residents and visitors traversed the streets of Newburyport, they spotted the “Sign of the Glove” at Dexter’s shop and other signs that marked the locations of other shops, encountering a landscape of visual images deployed to facilitate commerce and consumption in eighteenth-century America.  Those signs served as precursors to the logos that companies would adopt in later centuries.  Some entrepreneurs used them as a rudimentary form of branding.  Dexter, for instance, not only used the “Sign of the Glove” to mark his location “opposite Somerby’s Landing” but also to promote his business in his notice in the Essex Journal.

Few shop signs from the eighteenth century survive today, yet newspaper advertisements reveal that they were common sights (and sites) in early America.  Not every shop had a sign, but the proprietors of those that did likely hoped that their signs would make their businesses more visible and more memorable.  In a competitive marketplace, every small advantage might help.

October 13

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (October 11, 1776).
“THE VIRGINIA ALMANACK For the Year 1777.”

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.

October 3

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Independent Chronicle (October 3, 1776).

“The Printer is now waiting only for the names of a sufficient number of subscribers.”

In early October 1776, Isaiah Thomas took to the pages of the Independent Chronicle to provide an update about the newspaper he proposed publishing in Salem, Massachusetts.  In a previous notice, dated August 28, he announced that he “intends publishing a NEWS-PAPER, as soon as a sufficient Number of Subscribers appear to support it, which, it is supposed, will be in about four Weeks from the Date hereof.”

More than four weeks passed without Thomas printing and circulating the first issue of the newspaper.  He explained that he was “now waiting only for the names of a sufficient number of subscribers,” suggesting that his previous advertisements had not yielded as much demand as he anticipated.  Ther printer once again appealed to “THOSE Gentlemen and Ladies, who incline to encourage the publishing a News-Paper, in the Town of Salem … to send in their Names” and to do so “with all convenient speed.”  Subscribers could submit their names directly to Thomas “at his printing-office in the main-street” or to his associate, “Mr. M. Williams, Bookseller, in the main-street.”  The printer did not ask for any payment in advance but only upon “delivery of the first number.”  This time around, Thomas did not make any predictions about when subscribers would receive that “first number.”

He did, however, provide an overview of the price, which he had not done in his previous advertisement.  Perhaps he thought more “Gentlemen and Ladies” would subscribe upon learning that that the newspaper cost “Eight Shillings per annum, exclusive of Postage,” with only two shillings due each quarter.  Alternately, Thomas allowed for subscribers “who do not incline to advance any money beforehand” to pay a slightly higher rate of two pence for each weekly issue.  In the end, neither option enticed enough subscribers for Thomas to print the “first number” or any other issue of his proposed newspaper in Salem.  After a couple of years, he returned to Worcester and resumed printing the Massachusetts Spy after leasing that newspaper to other printers during his time in Salem.