Daily Advert Update

October 18

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (October 18, 1776).
“RUN away … a negro man named BACCHUS.”

Like many other enslavers seeking to recover their human property, John Greenhow placed a newspaper advertisement that described the enslaved man who liberated himself by running away from him and offered a reward for his capture and return.  In this instance, Greenhow inserted an advertisement about Bacchus in the October 18, 1776, edition of Alexander Purdie’s Virginia Gazette.  By that time, Bacchus had eluded Greenhow for three months.

Greenhow suspected that Bacchus had help.  He explained that the enslaved man “formerly belonged to mr. John Wilkinson, not far from New Kent courthouse.”  He reported that Bacchus headed that direction because he “has a father and other relations in that family, and has several times been seen there since he ran away.”  Furthermore, Greenhow had “great reason to believe he is harboured and employed in that neighbourhood.”  He did not mention whether Bacchus had any notable skills, yet Greenhow seemed certain that the formerly enslaved man managed to find work in the vicinity.  He was so confident that was the case that he offered a reward “to any person that will prove in court who the villain is that conceals and employs him.”  If Greenhow was correct, that meant that Bacchus received help not only from his “father and other relations” and other Black people but also from a white employer who did not ask too many questions about his background or who might even have been sympathetic to his situation.

Although Greenhow did not write the advertisement with the intention of creating a truncated biography of Bacchus, the notice revealed choices that the Black man made during the Revolutionary War.  Among the many disruptions caused by the war, enslaved men and women had the option of making their way to British forces in hopes of earning their freedom.  Both men and women could provide services in camp, while men could also fight.  In November 1775, John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore and the last royal governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation that offered freedom to enslaved people “appertaining to rebels” (or enslaved by patriots) who were “willing to bear arms” and “join[ed] his Majesty’s troops.”  Some advertisements indicated that enslaved men and women who liberated themselves were likely making their way to the British.  Yet Bacchus did not make that choice; at least, Greenhow did not think that he did.  Instead, Bacchus chose to reunite with his father and other members of his family.  He called on bonds with family and friends and forged some sort of agreement with an employer to keep him hidden from Greenhow.  Still in danger of discovery, Bacchus was in a better position than if he did not have allies who aided him in seeking freedom.

October 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Independent Chronicle (October 17, 1776).

“At the Post-Office may be had, COMMON Sense … on the grand subject of American Independency.”

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was advertised widely in Pennsylvania, New York, and New England in the winter and spring of 1776, especially as printers in many cities and towns produced local editions.  As summer approached, the number and frequency of advertisements for the popular political pamphlet decreased.  By that time the market had been saturated.  Readers had many opportunities to purchase Common Sense as the arguments presented in the pamphlet helped to convince colonizers to declare independence rather than seek redress of grievances within the British imperial system.  By the time the Continental Congress declared independence on July 2 and approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, advertisements for Common Sense mostly disappeared.  Only the Freeman’s Journal, published in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, carried advertisements for Common Sense in July 1776.

After several months, however, an advertisement for Common Sense suddenly appeared in the Independent Chronicle, published in Boston, on October 17.  It was the first time that newspaper carried an advertisement for Paine’s pamphlet, though the Boston-Gazette (printed in nearby Watertown) and the New-England Chronicle previously featured advertisements for Common Sense.  Local printers produced two editions to supplement those that came off presses in other towns in New England and beyond.  The new advertisement in the Independent Chronicle did not indicate who sold Common Sense.  It simply announced, “At the Post-Office may be had, COMMON Sense with the whole appendix,” and several other items that Robert Bell, the publisher of the first edition, added to subsequent unauthorized editions.  Bell published, for instance, “a dialogue between the ghost of General Montgomery, just arrived from Elysian fields, and an American delegate in a wood, near Philadelphia,” separately and with Common Sense along with “large additions.”  Other printers added some of those items to local editions of the pamphlet, though Richard Gimbel’s bibliography of Common Sense does not indicate that local editions printed outside Philadelphia included all the material listed in the advertisement in the Independent Chronicle.[1]  Perhaps some copies of one of Bell’s Philadelphia editions made it to the post office in Boston in the fall of 1776.  Even readers who had previously perused Common Sense could have been interested in reading additional content associated with the pamphlet, justifying a newspaper advertisement giving renewed attention to this pamphlet “on the grand subject of American Independency.”

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[1] Richard Gimbel, Thomas Paine: A Bibliographical Check List of Common Sense with an Account of Its Publication (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956), 78-79, 88-91.

October 16

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Gazette (October 16, 1776).

“THE Ship Caroline, of London, lately made a prize by the Harlequin Privateer.”

I rely on several databases of digitized copies of early American newspapers in the research and production of the Adverts 250 Project and the Slavery Adverts 250 Project.  America’s Historical Newspapers and Periodicals from Readex, a division of NewsBank, provides the most extensive coverage of newspapers published in eighteenth-century America.  It requires a subscription to access.  Other databases contain fewer newspapers but extend the geographic coverage in important ways.  Moving from north to south, the Maryland Gazette Collection from the Archives of Maryland Online, maintained by the Maryland State Archives, provides access to the Maryland Gazette, published in Annapolis.  Anyone with an internet connection may access this database.  Through its Digital Collections platform, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library grants access to several newspapers published in Williamsburg, each named the Virginia Gazette, from Colonial Williamsburg, the Library of Virginia, and the Swem Library at the College of William and Mary.  Anyone with an internet connection may access this database.  Accessible Archives, now a part of History Commons, includes several newspapers published in Charleston, South Carolina, in the eighteenth century.  It requires a subscription to access.

Recently, I have started consulting Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers from the Library of Congress.  Anyone with an internet connection many access this database.  So far, Chronicling America focuses primarily on newspapers published in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  Through an ongoing partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities and partner archives and research libraries in many states, the National Digital Newspaper Program, it continues to add newspapers, including newspapers published during the era of the American Revolution.  I now consult Chronicling America to see whether it includes any newspapers not available through any of the other databases.  I was able to include the New York Packet during its short run (January 4 – August 29, 1776) in the Adverts 250 Project and the Slavery Adverts 250 Project thanks to Chronicling America.  That database also duplicates some of the newspapers available via other databases.

Pennsylvania Gazette (October 16, 1776).

Duplicates can be helpful.  Not all copies of newspapers that are digitized are in the same condition.  Not all remediation achieves the same quality.  Consider Benjamin Powell’s advertisement for an auction of prize ship and its cargo that ran in the October 16, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette.  Portions of it are difficult to read or even illegible in the digital image from America’s Historical Newspapers.  That is certainly the exception, not the rule.  The vast, vast majority of newspapers in America’s Historical Newspapers, including other issues of the Pennsylvania Gazette, are easy to read.  This example is not representative of the collection as whole, but instead illustrative that sometimes a second copy can be very helpful.  The National Digital Newspaper Project sets high standards for producing digitized images of historical newspapers.  Production involves technologies that were not available when other databases created the images in their collections.[1]  Accordingly, I start with America’s Historical Newspapers, an incredible database, and then consult Chronicling America when necessary.  That more than one database includes some newspapers is not superfluous or redundant.  It enhances research and access to these sources in important ways.

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[1] On a related note, the Rockefeller Library recently updated its Digital Collections to grant access to both black-and-white images from microfilm and high-quality color images created with modern digital technologies.  The black-and-white images constitute the largest part of that collection.  The color images are an important supplement.

October 15

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

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

Supplement to the Pennsylvania Evening Post (October 15, 1776).

“He likewise returns thanks to such of his friends who have been pleased to employ him.”

Henry Snelling apparently thought that advertising worked.  In the spring of 1776, the “WATCHMAKER from London” inserted an advertisement in the April 20 edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post.  Three months later, he ran another advertisement on July 18.  Another three months after that, he placed yet another advertisement “to acquaint the public that he performs the said business in all its branches.”  He promised that customers who “will please to favour him with their commands, may depend on his care in executing the same.”

Pennsylvania Evening Post (April 20, 1776).

Comparing the format of the three advertisements reveals some of the decisions that Snelling made as he tinkered with the copy each time that he ran a new notice.  He retained nearly identical copy throughout the three advertisements, but he seemingly did not alert the printing office that he would likely run subsequent advertisements after the one that ran in April.  The printer broke down the type and set it again when Snelling resumed advertising in July.  The new advertisement featured identical copy, making it almost indistinguishable from the previous one except for differences in line breaks near the end.  In addition, Snelling added a note: “Clocks and Watches bought and sold by commission.”  A manicule directed attention to the addition.  Once again, Snelling apparently did not indicate that he planned to run the same advertisement again in a few months.  The October version had almost identical copy with a minor revision to the final note about buying and selling watches on commission.  Significant changes in format make it clear at a glance that the printer rest the type.  The new version had a drop cap for the “H” in “HENRY,” while the previous version had a drop cap for the “B” in “BEGS.”  The words “CHAINS” and “SEALS” appeared in all capitals in the October advertisement but not in the July version.  The manicule on the final line disappeared.  None of the line breaks repeated.

Pennsylvania Evening Post (July 18, 1776).

These changes in format demonstrate that Snelling made new decisions to invest in advertising once again, first in July and then in October.  If he did not consider his previous notices effective, he likely would not have continued to pay for additional advertisements, especially not a third time.  In the absence of market research that reveals the effectiveness of newspaper advertising in eighteenth-century America, the reiteration and updating of advertisements suggests that the advertisers at least believed that placing notices yielded results.

October 14

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 14, 1776).
“All kinds of business will be transacted on commission … in the manner practised in London.”

The British occupation of New York created opportunities for William Tongue to open a “MERCHANT BROKER’S OFFICE, AND AUCTION OR PUBLIC VENDUE ROOM … in Hanover-Square.”  The enterprising broker announced that he “arriv’d lately with his Majesty’s fleet from England,” yet also confided that he “has been a resident in this province 16 years, in the character of a merchant.”  Although he had recently taken up residence in New York when British forces took control of the city, he was not a newcomer to the colony (now state).  He had years of experience living in New York and working as a merchant, so clients could draw on his familiarity with the region.  Tongue underscored that he “has had such experience in London and America, as to have acquir’d a general knowledge of mercantile affairs, and from those advantages hopes to render this office of public utility.”

The broker sought to strike a balance between the experience he gained in London and his knowledge of American markets.  He stated that “all kinds of business will be transacted on commission either in buying, selling, or bartering European, West-India, or American merchandize.”  To that end, he promised, “Masters of vessels may immediately be inform’d the state of the market, and enabled to sell their cargoes to advantage.”  In addition, clients could utilize his services to sell enslaved people, ships, and “other articles … in the brokerage way in the manner practised in London.”  Tongue also emphasized his connections to “the officers of his Majesty’s guards, and the Hessian officers,” declaring that he supplied them with “the best of wines, Jamaica spirits, brandy,” and other items.  He hoped to leverage that aspect of his business to gain additional clients among “the other gentlemen of the army and navy.”

Tongue quickly set up shop after arriving in New York “with his Majesty’s fleet.”  He inserted two advertisements in the September 30 edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury published in the city at the behest of the British.  Hugh Gaine, the printer of that newspaper, had relocated to Newark, New Jersey, and resumed publication there, but the British, lacking a local newspaper, arranged for Ambrose Serle to publish an alternate New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.   Tongue, who conducted business “At the house where Henry Wilmot lately liv’d, nearly opposite Mr. Gaine’s, printer,” quickly submitted copy for both advertisements.  The lengthy one that gave an overview of his new business ran for several weeks while a shorter one announced a sale of “SUNDRY articles of dry goods” and other items “THIS MORNING.”  Tongue wasted no time in launching his new brokerage office and auction house when the British occupied New York.

October 12

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

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

Providence Gazette (October 12, 1776).

“He flatters himself, that no one can finish or cut Cloaths with greater Elegance and Taste.”

When Richard Stevens, a “TAYLOR and HABIT-MAKER,” prepared to open a shop in the fall of 1776, he ran an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to launch his business.  Stevens announced that “all the various Branches of the Taylor’s Business will be executed in the most elegant Manner, with Fidelity and Dispatch,” deploying some of the most common appeals made by tailors and other artisans.  He emphasized skill, fashion, and customer satisfaction.

Then Stevens departed from the usual script that most tailors followed in their advertisements, declaring that he “does not aim at being pompous in his Advertisement, nor to detract from any Man’s Merit in his Profession; yet, he flatters himself, that no one can finish or cut Cloaths with greater Elegance and Taste.”  What started as a statement of humility and an acknowledgment of the fine work done by his competitors turned into a bold claim about his own abilities as a tailor.  Stevens practically challenged prospective customers to see for themselves whether he exaggerated his claim.  Perhaps he was a bit pompous, despite his claims to the contrary, but maybe clients could overlook (or even embrace) such pride if the tailor delivered on the “Elegance and Taste” that he so confidently declared.  In case that was not enough to entice readers to hire him, Stevens “also promises to pay for any Cloaths that should not fit.”  He offered a guarantee, giving prospective customers yet another reason to hire his services.  Other tailors promoted their skill, but rarely did they go as far as stating that they would refuse payment if their clients did not believe that their garments fit.

Following his innovative appeals, Stevens returned to standard language that appeared in so many advertisements for tailors and others who hawked goods and services.  He concluded by pledging that he “shall make it his Study to deserve the Favours of all those that should be so kind as to oblige him with their Work.”  Although he concluded with familiar language that could have appeared in other advertisements, Stevens distinguished himself from other tailors elsewhere in his notice, trumpeting the superior “Elegance and Taste” of clothing that he cut and finished and offering a guarantee that his clients would be satisfied or not pay for his work.

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.