Daily Advert Update

December 13

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Essex Gazette (December 13, 1774).

“The WONDERFUL APPEARANCE of an Angel, Devil and Ghost.”

It resembled a Dickens story decades before Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” or anything else!  In December 1775, John Boyle published and advertised “The WONDER of WONDERS! Or, the WONDERFUL APPEARANCE of an Angel, Devil and Ghost, To a Gentleman in the Town of BOSTON, in the Nights of the 14th, 15th, and 16th of October last.”  His advertisements first appeared in the Massachusetts Spy in early December and very soon after in other newspapers in Boston as well the Essex Gazette in Salem and the Essex Journal in Newburyport.

That gentleman, Boyle suggested in his advertisements, was apparently a Loyalist “To whom in some Measure may be attributed the Distresses that have of late fallen upon that unhappy Metropolis.”  The Boston Port Act had closed the harbor to commercial shipping, the Massachusetts Government Act had given the royally appointed governor more authority at the expense of the locally elected legislature and town meetings, and the Quartering Act provided for a greater presence of British soldiers.  The unnamed gentleman who supposedly experienced these visitations shared his experience with a neighbor and then agreed to their publication “as a solemn Warning to all those, who, for the sake of aggrandizing themselves and their Families, would entail the most abject Wretchedness upon Millions of their Fellow-Creatures.”  J.L. Bell, who has been chronicling Boston in the era of the American Revolution in a daily research blog for nearly two decades, notes, “All but the most credulous readers knew that this presentation was a sham designed to lend a wild cautionary tale some veneer of veracity.”

Bell examines “Wonder of Wonders” in three entries, the first introducing the pamphlet and its publication history, the second relaying the visitation by the angel, and the third recounting the visits by the devil and a ghost as well as interpreting the story in the context of how the imperial crisis unfolded in Boston.  Bell summarizes the pamphlet as purportedly an “account of a wealthy friend of the royal government whose sleep was disturbed by three supernatural visitors warning him to change his ways and start caring more about his neighbors.”  On the first night, the angel provides a warning to get back on the right path, a footnote explaining that the gentleman received compensation for his support of the officials dispatched to Boston from Britain but not specifying which services he provided.  The gentleman initially dismissed this visitor as “a delusion” until the devil visited the next night.  Their conversation covered “the previous nine years of conflict through Loyalist eyes.”  The editor conveniently provided an alternate interpretation of events in footnotes.  On the third night, the ghost of one of the gentleman’s ancestors appeared and chastised him for betraying principles that had been in place since the founding of the colony.  Colonizers settled New England, the ghost declared, “for the sake of enjoying that liberty which was denied them at home.”  The gentleman realizes the error of his way and vows to repent.

Bell wonders about the intended audience for the pamphlet, “Loyalists who needed converting” or Patriots “who enjoyed the sight of an opposing gentleman scared into submission.”  It very well could have been both, though describing it as “a solemn Warning” seemed to invite Loyalists to take heed.  The advertisement invited the curious of all political persuasions to purchase and read the pamphlet, supplementing the spectacular title with promises of four images that adorned the work.  Depictions of “THE DEVIL,” “AN ANGEL, with a Sword in one Hand, a Pair of Scales in the other,” “BELZEBUB, holding in his right Hand a folio Book, and in his left a Halter,” and “A GHOST, having on a white Gown, his Hair much dishevelled,” enhanced the story.  Whoever the intended audience may have been, Boyle aimed to generate revenue with the pamphlet by advertising widely and disseminating copies to local agents in other towns.

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Quotations not drawn from the advertisement come from J.L. Bell’s Boston 1775: History, Analysis, and Unabashed Gossip about the Start of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

December 12

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

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

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (December 12, 1774).

“He will meet with due encouragement … by every real friend to American manufactures.”

Nicholas Cox, a hatter, made several appeals to consumers in his advertisement in the December 12, 1774, edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.  He commenced with a standard expression of gratitude for “the encouragement he had met with from the respectable publick since he commenc’d business.”  Many purveyors of goods and services did so in their advertisements, signaling to readers that other consumers already considered them worthy of their business.  It was a familiar means of bolstering an advertiser’s reputation.

The hatter also incorporated commentary specific to his trade, proclaiming that he “manufactures the new invented and greatly approved of CAP-HATS.”  For those unaware of this innovation, eh explained that by “outward appearance they are entirely like other hats, having only the addition of a cap fix’d in the bowl, which can be drawn out occasionally.”  In such instances, it “buttons under the chin, keeping the neck and ears entirely free from rain or snow.”  Cox marketed this new style, a very practical element, as “so very necessary for all those whose business exposes them to the inclemency of the weather.”  According to Kate Haulman, colonizers debated whether they should carry umbrellas, “stylistic spoils of empire hailing from India,” in the 1760s and 1770s.  “Some regarded umbrellas as ridiculous and frivolous,” she notes, “serving no purpose that a good hat could not supply.”[1]  Cox produced and sold such hats for men of business who sought to eschew the effeminacy and luxury associated with umbrellas.

His next appeal made an even more explicitly political argument to prospective customers.  He made “the best black and white superfine FELT and WOOL HATS,” like the tricorne hat depicted in the woodcut that adorned his advertisement.  Cox asserted that patriotic consumers had a duty to support his business when they made choices about where to acquire their hats.  He expressed confidence that he “will meet with due encouragement at this spirited time, by every real friend to American manufactures.”  The Continental Association, a boycott of British goods adopted in response to the Coercive Acts, had recently gone into effect.  Cox offered an alternative to colonizers who desired to acquire hats yet wished to remain patriotically correct, either according to their own principles or at least to avoid the ire of others who observed the purchases they made.  Furthermore, his customers did not have sacrifice quality for principles.  The hatter pledged that “he will warrant [his hats] to be far superior to the best imported from England.” That being the case, the crown that appeared above the tricorne hat at the top of his advertisement may have testified to the superior quality of his hats, a general sense of pride in being part of the British Empire, or reverence for the monarch whom many colonizers still hoped would intervene on their behalf in their altercation with Parliament.

In addition to those appeals, Cox included two more common marketing strategies.  He promised a “[g]reat abatement … to those who take a quantity at a time.”  In other words, he gave discounts for buying multiple hats, both for consumers and for retailers who intended to sell them in their own shops.  He also provided a free ancillary service: “Customers hats brush’d at all times, gratis.”  Cox saw to the care and maintenance of the hats he made and sold long after the time of purchase.  He cultivated relationships with customers by encouraging them to return to his shop for assistance in keeping their hats in good order.  Overall, Cox resorted to a variety of familiar and specific appeals when advertising his hats, distinguishing him from competitors who did not put as much effort into marketing their wares.

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[1] Kate Haulman, “Fashion and the Culture Wars of Revolutionary Philadelphia,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 62, no 4 (October 2005): 632.

December 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Supplement to the New-York Journal (December 8, 1774).

“The hatter’s business will be carried on as usual, by her.”

Mary Jarvis assumed responsibility for the family business following the death of her husband, James, a hatter.  In an advertisement that ran in the New-York Journal for several weeks in November and December 1774, she “inform[ed] her friends and the public and general, that the hatter’s business will be carried on as usual, by her, at the house and shop formerly occupied by her said husband.”  Like many others who advertised goods and services in colonial newspapers, she promised that “those who will be pleased to favour her with their custom, may depend upon being served with fidelity and dispatch.”  Jarvis may have consulted with John Holt, the printer, on the wording for her notice when she made arrangements for its publication, though that may not have been necessary.  Considering that she knew enough about the enterprise to continue its operations following the death of her husband, she may very well have been familiar enough with the usual contents of newspaper advertisements to compose it herself.  In addition, she could have perused similar notices many times as a consumer and learned for herself what they should contain.

The widow’s role in the business changed following the death of her husband, yet she likely had experience with many of the tasks from assisting him over the years.  When she declared that “the hatter’s business will be carried on as usual, by her,” she suggested that she did the work herself rather than managing employees previously affiliated with the business or hired after her situation changed.  Although James had been the public face of the venture, Mary no doubt made valuable contributions and learned much about the trade.  She sought to leverage that knowledge to support herself through her own industry, joining many other women – milliners and seamstresses – in the garment trades.  Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich distinguishes between what was probable for women and what was possible for women in early America.  In this case, Jarvis embodied both.  It was probable that she assisted James in his business as a “deputy husband” (a concept developed by Ulrich) and that made it possible for her to work as a hatter in her own right when circumstances demanded.

December 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (December 10, 1774).

“For further Particulars enquire … at the Sign of the Greyhound.”

When Nathaniel Wheaton advertised “TWO convenient Dwelling-Houses, pleasantly situated, adjoining the main Street, near King’s Church, in Providence” in December 1774, he instructed interested parties to seek “further Particulars … at the Sign of the Greyhound.”  That sign had marked Wheaton’s location for some time, becoming a familiar sight as residents of the town traversed its streets.  Regular readers of the Providence Gazette may have also remembered that Wheaton adorned some of his previous advertisements with a woodcut depicting a greyhound, perhaps replicating the image on the sign.

Without standardized street numbers, colonizers resorted to a variety of other means of giving directions to their homes and shops.  In the December 10, 1774, edition of the Providence Gazette, Stephen Whiting, Jr., stated that he sold “Looking-Glasses and Pictures … at his shop, at Col. Knight Dexter’s, in King-street, and over Mr. William Tyler’s paint-shop.”  Similarly, Eliezer Callender declared that he sold a “large Assortment of Hard-Ware … Next to Mr. Hill’s Variety Store.”  Silas Downer announced that he moved to a new location and now gave “Advice and Assistance in the Law” at “the House which belonged to the late Henry Paget, Esq; and near the Bridge Market.”

Signs also served as landmarks that clearly marked the locations of shops and offices.  Like Downer, Charles Bowler recently moved to a different location, opening “his new Bake-House, in Union-Street.”  Patrons would recognize it by “the Sign of the Bakers Arms.”  In the colophon of each issue of the Providence Gazette, John Carter, the printer, noted that he operated his printing office “at Shakespear’s Head,” a reference to his own sign.  In addition, customers recognized Hill’s Variety Store, mentioned in Callender’s advertisement, by “the Sign of the ELEPHANT.”  Like Wheaton, Hill commissioned a woodcut related to his sign to draw attention to some of his newspaper advertisements.  Though few colonial-era signs survive today, newspaper advertisements demonstrate that they played a prominent role in the visual culture of eighteenth-century urban ports.

December 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (December 9, 1774).

“Glass buttons having the word liberty printed in them.”

The headline for David Yeaman’s advertisement in the December 9, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Gazette alerted readers that it would document some sort of misbehavior.  “Seize the Rogue,” it proclaimed.  The rogue “broke open” Yeamans’s house and stole several items on November 28.  They included clothing, a “check’d red and white silk handkerchief,” a razor, and “sundry sorts of provisions.”  The unfortunate advertiser offered a reward to whoever apprehended the thief.

Yeamans’s descriptions of the missing garments revealed his taste and sartorial sensibilities.  The thief took a “snuff coloured strait-bodied coat well lin’d and trimm’d with mohair buttons,” a “scarlet waitcoast well lin’d and trimm’d with yellow gilt buttons” that showed very little wear, a “black double-breasted waistcoat considerably worn,” and a “striped blue and white cotton waistcoat lappell’d and trim’d with glass buttons.”  That last piece of clothing testified to more than Yeamans’s sense of fashion. It also said something about his politics and how he felt about the imperial crisis that had been intensifying for the year since the Boston Tea Party.  Those glass buttons had “the word liberty printed in them.”  Yeamans made a statement every time he wore the striped waistcoat adorned with those buttons.

This advertisement, printed immediately below entries from the “CUSTOM-HOUSE, New-LONDON,” and other shipping news in “THOMAS ALLEN’s MARINE LIST,” provided additional coverage of local news, though selected by an advertiser who paid to have it appear in print rather than by the editor who compiled “Fresh Advices from London!” and reports from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Hartford.  At first glance, it featured a theft, yet the details about one of the stolen garments prompted readers to think about the contents of the articles and editorials in that issue, including discussion of the Continental Association adopted by the First Continental Congress and the impact of the Boston Port Bill on residents of that city.  Those buttons with “the word liberty printed in them” contributed to discussions about politics when Yeamans wore his waistcoat and when he advertised its theft.

December 7

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

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

Pennsylvania Journal (December 7, 1774).

“White and Green Glass Ware; Such as are usually imported from Great-Britain.”

A headline in capital letters and a large font proclaimed, “AMERICAN GLASS.”  In a secondary headline composed of font of the same size, John Elliott and Company promoted “White and Green Glass Ware” that they produced ay their “GLASS HOUSE” near Philadelphia.  That advertisement happened to appear in the December 7, 1774, edition of the Pennsylvania Journal, the first issue published since the Continental Association went into effect on December 1.  Throughout the colonies, retailers and consumers adopted that boycott of goods imported from Britain, some enthusiastically and some under pressure.  They hoped that measure would help convince Parliament to repeal the Coercive Acts passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party.

Ever since the boycotts inspired by the Stamp Act nearly a decade earlier, supporters of the American cause emphasized the importance of “domestic manufactures” or goods produced in the colonies.  Such products offered an alternative to imported wares while also bolstering local economies and creating jobs.  The Continental Association had the potential to disrupt consumption practice, but it also presented opportunities for American entrepreneurs, including Elliott and Company.

In their advertisement, the proprietors of the Glass House reported that they had “procured a sett of good Workmen” and the glassworks were “in blast.”  That meant that the public “may be supplied with most kinds of White and Green Glass Ware; Such as are usually imported from Great-Britain.”  Prospective customers did not need to worry about the quality or cost of this alternative.  Elliott and Company offered assurances that they produced glassware “in a neat manner, and at moderate prices.”  In their appeal to “the PUBLIC,” Elliott and Company did not address consumers alone.  They also hoped to entice retailers, noting that “Orders from store-keepers and others, both of town and country will be executed with care and dispatch.”  They hoped these various appeals would “induce the friends of their country, and their own interest, to promote the undertaking.”  It was a win-win-win situation for the protest against Parliament, for customers, and for Elliott and Company.

December 6

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

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (December 6, 1774).

“WATCH-MAKER … proposes the fair Terms, No Cure, No Pay.”

When he moved to Charleston, one of the largest port cities in the colonies, M. Shepherd, a watchmaker, took to the pages of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal to introduce himself to his prospective customers.  Like many artisans who crossed the Atlantic, he emphasized his connections to London, suggesting the level of skill he obtained while employed there.  In addition to stating that he “Just arrived from LONDON,” Shepherd also asserted that he “REPAIRS and CLEANS all Sorts of plain, horizontal and repeating WATCHES, in as compleat a Manner as possibly can be done in London.”  That was possible, in part, because he had “Materials of the best Kind for that Purpose.”  Shepherd’s competitors could make claims about doing work that rivaled that of their counterparts in London, but he was in a much better position to deliver on those promises.

The watchmaker also seized an opportunity to critique what he believed was a shortcoming in the services offered in the local market.  He suggested that “Silversmiths and other undertaking that Branch of Business,” rather than trained and experienced watchmakers, attempted to repair and clean watches, resulting in “very frequent” complaints about shoddy work.  In that regard, he echoed the critiques so often launched by John Simnet, another watchmaker from London who had migrated to the colonies.  Simnet regularly asserted that his competitors who attempted to fix watches did more damage, making it necessary for him to undertake even greater repairs.  Shepherd was so confident of his abilities that he offered a guarantee that he framed as “fair Terms.”  Invoking language more often deployed by physicians and apothecaries, the watchmaker promised, “No Cure, No Pay.”  In other words, if he could not fix a watch then he did not charge the customer for the time or materials that he invested in the effort.  As a newcomer in Charleston, he aimed to make his services attractive to prospective clients, highlighting both his skill and his no-risk guarantee.

December 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Boston Gazette (December 5, 1774).

“James Bruce of Boston … was never in Company with a Captain Lovett.”

James Bruce resorted to an advertisement in the December 5, 1774, edition of the Boston-Gazette in hopes of rehabilitating his reputation.  From London, the mariner sent a sworn statement that addressed a story about him relayed “by a Paragraph in the Boston Journal, dated 28 July, last.”  He referred to an update from a Captain Lovett published in the Massachusetts Spy on that day.  Lovett had recently arrived in Boston from Antigua, by way of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  He delivered news that the “merchants and planters” in Antigua “were in great consternation on learning about proposals to suspend trade with Britain and its Caribbean colonies in response to the Boston Port Act and other Coercive Acts.

Despite anticipating hardships, those merchants and planters supposedly supported the American cause, even to the point of intervening when an “old troubler of Boston, Capt. Bruce, was railing against this town in a large company at a principal tavern.”  According to Lovett’s account, Bruce “expatiated largely on the abuse he had suffered for bringing his blessed cargo of Tea” to Boston aboard the Eleanor, one of the ships involved in the Boston Tea Party, and “hoped the next freight he brought them would be soldiers.”  At that point, a “gentleman” confronted him, noting how ungrateful he sounded toward a town that had contributed to his livelihood for so many years, and “caught Bruce by the nose and led him out of the company, requiring him to keep his distance, as a dirty ingrate, unworthy of any gentleman’s company or countenance.”

That story from July came to Bruce’s attention in September, prompting him to compose the statement that appeared in the Boston-Gazette in December.  Whether or not the incident in the tavern in Antigua occurred, Bruce apparently realized that he “got his bread” from the people of Boston and attempted to undo the damage.  He asserted that he “was never in Company with a Captain Lovett … at a Tavern in Antigua” and “the Contents of the Paragraph” inserted in the Massachusetts Spy “in order to hurt him” were “groundless and void of Truth.”  He “never made use of any such Expressions.”  Furthermore, he claimed that he “did not think or know at the Time he took the East India Company’s Tea on Board the Ship Eleanor, that the same would have been either detrimental, or displeasing to the Town of Boston.”  Had he been more aware of the circumstances, “himself and [the] owners would not have suffered any of the said Tea to have been shipt on Board the said Ship Eleanor.”  Bruce not only backtracked from the story told by Lovett but from his involvement in the events that culminated in the Boston Tea Party.

Just as many colonizers who signed an address to Governor Thomas Hutchinson upon his departure from Massachusetts later ran advertisements apologizing for having done so and claiming that they had not fully considered the contents of that address before affixing their signatures, Bruce paid to have his account of recent events run as an advertisement.  Among the five newspapers published in Boston at the time, he most likely chose to submit it to the Boston-Gazette because of that publication’s reputation for supporting patriots and opposing Parliament, thus placing his message before the eyes of those most offended by the reports of his conduct.  In placing such an advertisement, Bruce contributed to shaping the news that readers encountered, though that did not guarantee that anyone believed his version of events or the sincerity of his regret.

December 4

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

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

Virginia Gazette [Purdie and Dixon] (December 1, 1774).

“Our Press shall be as free as any in America.”

The first page of the December 1, 1774, edition of the Virginia Gazette featured two notices about the future endeavors of the partners who printed that newspaper.  In the first, Alexander Purdie announced his withdrawal from that partnership and outlined his plans to publish another newspaper on his own as soon as he garnered enough subscribers to make it a viable venture.  In the other, John Dixon expressed his appreciation for customers who had supported the partnership and revealed that he would continue to publish the Virginia Gazette with a new partner, William Hunter.

Although those were the only advertisements on the first page, they were not the only advertisements in that issue, nor the end of the notices inserted by the printers.  The remainder of the advertisements appeared after news and essays, commencing in the final column of the second page.  A notice placed by Dixon and Hunter led those advertisements, making clear that the new partnership would actively serve current and prospective customers.  They asserted that their newspaper “will be printed … upon good Paper and new Type.”  Beyond that investment that would benefit readers, Dixon and Hunter pledged that “no Pains or Expense shall be wanting to make this Gazette as useful and entertaining as ever.”  In other words, the newspaper would maintain the same quality that readers expected when the new management went into place.  Furthermore, they proclaimed that “our Press shall be as free as any in America.”  They hoped that would convince customers to continue their patronage, yet did not make assumptions.  “We beg Leave,” they declared, “to send put Papers regularly to the old Subscribers,” but recognized that some might not wish to renew.”  “If any Gentlemen choose to discontinue their Subscriptions at the end of the Year,” they instructed, “we request the Favour of them to let us know by that Time.”  The new partners also promoted other branches of their business, offering “BOOKS, STATIONARY, or PRINTING WORK” to residents of Williamsburg who visited their shop and customers in the country who sent orders.

That, however, did not conclude their advertisement.  Instead, Dixon and Hunter alerted readers that they would soon publish “THE Virginia Almanack For the Year of our LORD GOD 1775.”  The list of contents, intended to entice prospective customers, occupied more space than their announcement about upcoming changes in the partnership.  It contained the usual astronomical data and a selection of informative and “entertaining PIECES” along with several items related to current events.  Those included a list of “DELEGATES who formed the Grand AMERICAN CONGRESS convened at Philadelphia the 5th of Sept, 1774, and Names of the Provinces, &c. they represented,” a “List of DUTIABLE GOODS imported into the Colonies, by Virtue of a British Act of Parliament,” “His MAJESTY’S REGIMENT in AMERICA, and where stationed,” and “SHIPS of WAR on the American Station, with their COMMANDERS.”  The imperial crisis loomed large among the materials selected for inclusion in Dixon and Hunter’s almanac.  Before they began publishing the Virginia Gazette together, they disseminated information about the troubled relationship between the colonies and Britain in an almanac that customers would consult throughout the entire year of 1775.

December 3

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

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

Providence Gazette (December 3, 1774).

“ENGLISH GOODS, &c. Providence, November 26, 1774.”

Joseph Russell and William Russell, two of the most prosperous merchants in Providence on the eve of the American Revolution, regularly advertised a variety of wares in the Providence Gazette.  On December 3, 1774, they ran an advertisement for several commodities, including “Connecticut Pork and Beef in Barrels and Half Barrels, … a Quantity of Codfish, … West-India and New-England Rum by the Hogshead or Barrell, … Chocolate, Coffee, … and “drest Deerskins and Deerskins in the Hair.”  They concluded their notice with “ENGLISH GOODS,” indicating that they stocked and sold merchandise imported from Britain.

This advertisement appeared two days after the Continental Association, a nonimportation agreement adopted by the First Continental Congress, went into effect.  However, that was not the first time that it ran in the Providence Gazette.  A date appended to the end of the advertisement established that the Russells composed it on November 26, matching the date of the first issue of the newspaper that carried it.  Advertisements usually ran for a minimum of three weeks, though advertisers could arrange for notices to appear for much longer.  In this instance, the Russells opted for four weeks, commencing just days before the Continental Association went into effect and continuing when that pact was supposed to constrain buying and selling imported goods.  In the December 3 edition of the Providence Gazette, their advertisement appeared one column over from a notice promoting the Extracts from the Votes and Proceedings of the American Continental Congress, a pamphlet that included “the Association” along with “a List of Grievances” and “occasional Resolves.”  By including the date, the Russells may have sought to offer prospective customers some leeway in purchasing “ENGLISH GOODS” that had been received before the nonimportation agreement went into effect.  They made it easier for readers to feel comfortable with that decision than Richard Mathewson did.  His advertisement, which also ran before the Continental Association went into effect and continued into December, proclaimed that he sold a “large and general Assortment of GOODS” that were “Just imported from London.”  That notice did not include a date, making it less apparent when he received the goods.  Readers could reasonably conclude that Mathewson had ordered that merchandise before learning of the Continental Association, but that required more work on their part than the Russells did when they included a date in their advertisement.