Chairmaker

September 1

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

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

Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer (September 1, 1774).

“Cabinet and Chair-Maker, At the Sign of the Chair.”

A week ago, the Adverts 250 Project examined advertisements placed by Adam Galer, “WINDSOR CHAIR-MAKER,” and Thomas Burling, “Cabinet and Chair-Maker,” that happened to appear one after the other in the August 25, 1774, edition of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer.  Galer adorned his advertisement with an image of a Windsor chair within a decorative border, the focal point of his notice, while Burling relied exclusively on copy in making his pitch to prospective customers.

Burling apparently did not like being outdone by Galer.  In the next issue of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer his advertisement also featured a woodcut of a chair within a border.  Though the image was not as large as Galer’s image, the chair depicted in it was much more elaborate.  That represented the sorts of furniture, the “different articles in his branch,” that Burling produced in his shop, compared to Galer specializing in Windsor chairs.  The woodcut may have also replicated the “Sign of the Chair” that marked Burling’s location “in Beekman-Street, commonly called Chapel-Street.”  Once again, the two advertisements appeared in proximity to each other, though this time Burling’s came first and a short advertisement for chartering the schooner Henrietta separated them since colonial printers did not classify or organize advertisements by purpose or genre.

That Burling first published his advertisement without an image and then so quickly added one suggests that he consulted the newspaper to see his advertisement in print, perhaps to confirm its conclusion or perhaps out of pride to see his name and a description of his “neatness and dispatch” and “good work” in print.  He might have been quite surprised to discover that Galer upstaged him with an image and, adding to his frustration, that the two advertisements appeared together.  While the image drew attention to that portion of the page, increasing the chances that readers noticed Burling’s advertisement immediately below Galer’s, Burling might have felt that it reflected poorly on him that a chairmaker who made only Windsor chairs circulated the more striking notice.  To make his advertisement just as memorable, he added an image of a much more ornate chair at the first opportunity.

June 17

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

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

South-Carolina and American General Gazette (June 17, 1774).

“MARY HART … will be greatly obliged to her Husband’s Customers to continue their Favours.”

When she took to the pages of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette in the summer of 1774, Mary Hart advertised several wheeled vehicles for sale “remarkably cheap, at the Shop where the late Richard Hart, Chairmaker, lived” in Charleston.  Her inventory included a “VERY neat new CHAISE,” described by the Oxford English Dictionaryas a “light open carriage for one or two persons, often having a top,” and a “PHAETON, very little the worse for Use,” described as a “light four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horse, and having one or two seats facing forward.”  Like the modern automobile industry, Hart marketed both new and used vehicles.  She also had three “RIDING CHAIRS,” which public historians at George Washington’s Mount Vernon describe as a “wooden chair on a cart with two wheels … pulled by single horse.”  They explain that riding chairs “could travel country lanes and back roads more easily than bulkier four-wheeled chariots and coaches.”  Hart offered different kinds of wheeled vehicles to suit the needs, tastes, and budgets of her customers.

The widow did not merely seek to sell carriages previously produced by her late husband.  Instead, she announced that she “carries on the CHAIRMAKING BUSINESS.”  Eighteenth-century readers understood that she referred to making wheeled vehicles, not household furniture.  Her husband had cultivated a clientele for the family business, one that Hart wished to maintain and even expand.  She declared that she “will be greatly obliged to her Husband’s Customers to continue their Favours, and the Publick in general, who may depend upon having their Work done in as neat a Manner as any in the Province.”  Did Hart construct carriages herself?  Perhaps, though if that was the case it demonstrated what was possible rather than what was probable.  In a dissertation on “Women Shopkeepers, Tavernkeepers, and Artisans in Colonial Philadelphia,” Frances May Manges demonstrated that female entrepreneurs worked in a variety of trades.[1]  Hart may have worked alongside her husband before his death and then continued.  Rather than building carriages, she may have supervised employees in the workshop, running other aspects of the business both before and after her husband’s passing.  Either way, she confidently asserted that a workshop headed by a woman produced carriages equal in quality to any others made in the colony.  Out of necessity, Hart joined the ranks of widows who continued operating family businesses in colonial America.

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[1] Frances May Manges, “Women Shopkeepers, Tavernkeepers, and Artisans in Colonia Philadelphia” (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1958).

July 16

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Essex Gazette (July 16, 1771).

“He has got two Sorts of Chairs made by him which are called as neat as any that are made in Boston.”

When Joseph P. Goodwin set up shop in Salem in the summer of 1771, he placed an advertisement in the Essex Gazette“to inform all Gentlemen and others” that he “makes the best Sort of Mahogany Chairs, Couches and easy Chairs, Sofa’s, and any Thing in the Chair-making Business.”  To attract customers, especially those not yet familiar with his work, he deployed some of the appeals early American artisans most commonly incorporated into their newspaper advertisements.  “All Gentlemen and others that will favour him their Custom,” Goodwin proclaimed, “may depend upon having Work done in the neatest Manner.”  Such an assertion had multiple purposes, evoking both the quality of the chairs and other furniture and the skill of the chairmaker.  In addition, Goodwin promised good customer service, declaring that he attended to clients “with Fidelity and Dispatch.”

In addition to those standard appeals, Goodwin devoted a nota bene to favorable comparisons between the chairs he produced and those from workshops in Boston.  That he made his furniture from mahogany already testified to his understanding of quality and fashion in the eighteenth-century marketplace, but Goodwin embellished his advertisement with additional details.  He trumpeted that “Chairs made by him … are called as neat as any that are made in Boston.”  He did not, however, indicate who made that assessment, whether it was a pronouncement he made on his own or a recommendation made by former customers or others.  The wording suggested that others bestowed that designation on Goodwin’s chairs, but he did not offer further elaboration.  He may have considered it unnecessary, believing that his confidence in making such a statement would entice prospective customers to visit his shop to see his chairs and other furniture for themselves.  Like many merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans who advertised in the Essex Gazette, Goodwin refused to allow competitors in Boston to overshadow his workshop in Salem.  Boston was the bigger port, but that did not necessarily mean better merchandise than readers of the Essex Gazette could find in local stores and workshops.

November 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Nov 10 - 11:10:1768 New-York Journal Supplement
Supplement to the New-York Journal (November 10, 1768).

“A Large and neat Assortment of Windsor Chairs.”

A woodcut depicting a Windsor chair dominated Jonathan Hampton’s advertisement in the Supplement to the New-York Journal published on November 10, 1768. In that regard, his advertisement deviated significantly from the vast majority of paid notices placed in newspapers throughout the colonies. Most advertisements consisted entirely of text unaccompanied by images, in part because woodcuts required an additional investment. Printers did provide some woodcuts that advertisers could insert in their notices, but they were limited to a narrow selection. The selection was usually limited to depictions of ships, houses, horses, slaves, and runaways (servants and slaves). They were used interchangeably. For instance, a real estate advertisement could incorporate any woodcut depicting a house; the details of the woodcut did not necessarily correspond to the description of the house offered in the copy.

When advertisers desired to include images that represented their shop signs or, as was the case with Hampton, their merchandise, they could not draw from stock images provided by printers. Instead, they incurred the additional expense of commissioning woodcuts that then belonged exclusively to them. Not only did those images not accompany any other advertisements in a particular publication, advertisers could collect them and submit them from the printing office and submit them for inclusion in advertisements they placed in competing newspapers.

Even though it appears to have been damaged as the result of repeated impressions on a hand-operated press, the woodcut depicting a Windsor chair in Hampton’s advertisement would have drawn attention. Except for the masthead, no images appeared in the standard issue of the New-York Journal distributed on November 10, 1768. The supplement included only two images, Hampston’s Windsor chair and the elaborate frame that enclosed Gerardus Duyckinck’s list of goods he sold “At the Sign of the Looking Glass & Druggist Pot.” That frame incorporated both a looking glass and a druggist pot.

Some advertisements deployed typography or ornamental printing to distinguish them from others, yet they still consisted entirely of text and type. Including a woodcut helped some advertisers to even further differentiate their notices as a means of drawing attention to the goods and services they offered to prospective customers.

March 22

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Mar 22 - 3:22:1768 South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal
South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (March 22, 1768.)

“MATTHIAS HUTCHINSON, CAHIR-MAKER, who served his time to Mr. HART.”

Matthias Hutchinson published an advertisement in the March 22, 1768, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal “to acquaint the public, and his friends in particular, that he has opened a shop in Queen-street.” Hutchinson, a “CHAIR-MAKER,” proclaimed that he would pursue his occupation “in all its branches,” signaling to prospective customers that he was prepared to undertake jobs involving any aspect of constructing chairs. He also advanced some of the most common appeals made by merchants, artisans, and shopkeepers in their advertisements for consumer goods and services during the eighteenth century. He promised fair prices (“reasonable terms”) and efficient service (“quickest dispatch”).

In addition to those marketing strategies, Hutchinson also adopted an appeal most frequently deployed by artisans: he promoted his qualifications, especially his training. He did not introduce himself to the public merely as a “CHAIR-MAKER” but instead as a “CHAIR-MAKER, who served his time to Mr. HART.” In other words, Hutchinson had completed an apprenticeship in Hart’s workshop. He assumed that readers of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal were already familiar with Hart’s work and depended on his former master’s reputation as he attempted to cultivate his own professional identity among prospective customers in Charleston and beyond. Hutchinson considered this particularly imperative, opting to establish his credentials before he even mentioned his location or made appeals to price and customer service. Those credentials also enhanced his credibility when he assured potential clients that they “may depend on having their work done in the neatest and strongest manner.” His chairs were both attractive and sturdy, results produced thanks to the skills that Hutchinson developed via his training by Hart.

When he established his own workshop, Hutchinson identified his apprenticeship as an advantage that prospective customers would value when considering whether to entrust their business to the newcomer. Having labored in Hart’s workshop, he had participated in the production of chairs associated with his former master, contributing to the senior artisan’s reputation. Now Hutchinson sought to mobilize Hart’s reputation as a testament to his own qualifications and skill by noting that he had “served his time to Mr. HART.” More than any other appeal to prospective customers, Hutchinson made that the focal point of his identity as an artisan and entrepreneur.