Commodification of American Revolution

November 7

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

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (November 7, 1776).

“THE BATTLE of BUNKERS-HILL.  A dramatic piece of five acts, in heroic measure.”

In the fall of 1776, Robert Bell printed, advertised, and sold “THE BATTLE of BUNKERS-HILL.  A dramatic piece of five acts, in heroic measure.  By a Gentleman of Maryland.”  His advertisement in the November 7 edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post featured a quotation from Virgil’s Aeneid, “Pulchrumque mori succurrit in armis,” along with a translation for readers who did not happen to know Latin, “‘Tis glorious to die in battle.”  Both the quotation and the translation also appeared on the title page of the play.  Most prospective customers were likely familiar with the Battle of Bunker’s Hill that occurred on June 17, 1775, during the siege of Boston.  Although the British won, they took such heavy losses at the hands of the Americans that they did not launch other attacks during the siege.  In that regard, the battle was an American victory, but one that came at cost.  General Joseph Warren, a patriot leader who only a few months earlier delivered the annual oration commemorating the Boston Massacre, was killed during the battle.

Bell’s advertisement did not go into such detail, perhaps because the printer expected that many prospective customers already knew the most significant details.  He expected that a “dramatic piece” would arouse both their curiosity and their patriotism, encouraging them to purchase the play.  Scholars have supplied some of the details that Bell did not include in his advertisement.  Curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for instance, explain that “the headmaster of Maryland’s Somerset Academy,” Hugh Henry Brackenridge, “responded [to the battle] with a play for his students to perform.”  Bell printed the play and distributed it more widely to American readers.  When he did so, he included a frontispiece, “The Death of Warren,” that depicted the general on bended knee with his right hand over his chest and his left hand on his rifle for support.  Concerned soldiers appeared on the left of the mortally wounded general and a fallen comrade, another American casualty, laid on the ground on the right.  John Norman, who had produced other patriotic images, engraved the scene, though Bell did not promote it in his advertisement.  Instead, he announced that he stocked “all the new publications of the Military Art” as well as “a considerable variety of books in Navigation, and other branches of the Mathematics.”

Brackenridge demonstrated his patriotism by writing the play and then resigning from his position to join the Continental Army as a chaplain.  Bell, like many other printers, artists, and booksellers presented consumers with an opportunity to show their patriotism by buying and reading the play.  Such commemoration and commodification of the events associated with the American Revolution began before the war and continued during the war.

Hugh Henry Brackenridge, The Battle of Bunkers-Hill, a Dramatic Piece, of Five Acts, in Heroic Measure (Philadelphia: Robert Bell, 1776). Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.

October 24

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

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

Continental Journal (October 24, 1776).

“Low’s Almanack for 1777, Being the first of American Independence.”

As they had often done before the Revolutionary War, Thomas and John Fleet and John Gill once again collaborated on printing, advertising, and selling an almanac in the fall of 1777.  The October 24, 1776, edition of Gills newspaper, the Continental Journal, carried an advertisement that announced that “Low’s Almanack for 1777” would be published and available for sale on the following Monday.  It was one of the first advertisements for an almanac published anywhere in the new nation that included a list of the contents to entice prospective customers.  The material that the Fleets and Gill included in their new almanac and in the advertisement resonated with the revolution that readers were experiencing.

To start, the printers promoted “Low’s Almanack for 1777, Being the first of American Independence.”  During the colonial era, the year had often been paired with the number of years the monarch had reigned.  Rather than set that practice aside, the Fleets and Gill adapted it to reflect the founding of the nation.  They also asserted that the contents included “every Thing necessary for an Almanack: together with a neat Plan comprehending a View of the present Seat of War at and New-York.”  Less than two months after British forces occupied New York, this almanac came with a print that depicted “General Washington’s Lines – Fort at Powles’s Hook – Bunker-Hill near the City – King’s Bridge – Hell-Gate – Fort Constitution – Mount Washington – Governor’s Island – and part of Long Island, Staten Island and the Jersies.”  Such an image would have been helpful for readers in understanding recent events.  It was also part of the commodification of people and events connected to the American Revolution that had begun during the imperial crisis.  Even before the war, printers, booksellers, artists produced, marketed, and sold a variety of prints, pamphlets, and other items that celebrated political leaders who supported the American cause, such as William Pitt and Samuel Adams, or commemorated events like the Boston Massacre.  In addition, the advertisement listed other contents of the almanac, including short essays on “Rules and Reflections for the Conduct of Life, “How to get Riches,” and “an Address to the Tories.”  A good dose of politics and current events accompanied the practical information in the almanac.  The Fleets and Gill believed that bonus material would help sell “Low’s Almanack for 1777, Being the first of American Independence.”

September 24

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

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (September 24, 1776).

“Hancock and other printed handkerchiefs.”

When William Adcock first announced a “VENDUE” or auction of “a great variety of goods suitable to the season” to be held on September 18, 1776, he included “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs, and a great variety of other printed handkerchiefs” among the items “exposed for sale.”  A week later he inserted another advertisement in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, informing the public that he would host another sale “at his vendue store.”  This time he promoted “a variety of GOODS, among which are … coarse white linens, checks, stripes, superfine mens and womens cotton stockings, silk and worsted knee garters, flax, gimps, fringes, [and] Hancock and other printed handkerchiefs.”  He did not include “Washington handkerchiefs” among his wares.

Did that mean that he had sold all the handkerchiefs bearing a depiction of the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at his previous sale?  Possibly.  Even if that was the case, it did not necessarily indicate that commemorative items depicting the general were more popular than those with a likeness of the president of the Continental Congress.  The advertisements did not mention the quantity of each handkerchief available.  Adcock may have had a limited supply of “Washington handkerchiefs” compared to “Hancock handkerchiefs.”  The second advertisement did, however, clarify an element of the design of those handkerchiefs.  It was not clear from the first advertisement whether “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs” featured both men on a single handkerchief.  Other handkerchiefs produced during the era, after all, had images of multiple prominent politicians and military officers.  “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs” could have had profiles of the two men facing each other, but the second advertisement suggests that each prominent leader had his own commemorative handkerchief.  They may have been made in the same workshop by a savvy entrepreneur who hoped that patriotic consumers would treat them as collectibles by purchasing both rather than just one.  Given that vendues often sold goods in quantities, retailers likely purchased some of the “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs” to stock in their own shop and sell to consumers who visited with other purchases in mind.

September 17

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

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (September 17, 1776).

“Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs.”

William Adcock placed an advertisement in the September 17, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post to inform the public of a “VENDUE” or auction scheduled for the following day.  He declared that “a great variety of goods suitable to the season” would “be exposed to sale.”  He listed some of them, mostly textiles, to give prospective bidders an idea of the available goods.  In addition to “spotted velvets, silk breeches pieces, … a large quantity of stripes and checks, … silk and worsted gloves and mits, [and] a large quantity of mens fine cotton stockings,” Adcock promoted “a great variety of other goods too tedious for an advertisement.”

He did not, however, find it “too tedious” to mention “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs, and a great variety of other printed handkerchiefs.”  As the Museum of the American Revolution notes, “newspapers, pamphlets, and books … convey[ed] information” during the era of the American Revolution, yet “[s]imilar technology of the time – engraved copper plates, presses, and type – were used to print other paper items used for practical purposes [and the] images used on one type of item were often copied and used on other types of items,” including handkerchiefs.

Most of the handkerchiefs at Adcock’s vendue likely featured decorative patterns, but the “Hancock and Washington handkerchiefs” sported portraits of the new nation’s most prominent political leader, John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, and its most prominent military leader, George Washington, commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  A single handkerchief might have included images of both men.  Alternately, the politician and the general may have been depicted individually on separate handkerchiefs, presenting patriotic consumers with more merchandise to purchase.  Either way, the handkerchiefs simultaneously commemorated American leaders and commodified the American Revolution.  Consumers could demonstrate their support for the American cause by purchasing and then using or displaying these handkerchiefs.

Few such handkerchiefs have survived, in part because textiles are so fragile.  In 2023, the Museum of the American Revolution mounted an exhibition that included an anti-Stamp Act handkerchief and a heroes of the Revolution handkerchief (with Washington in the center and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, General Nathanael Greene, and General Benjamin Lincoln in the corners), giving visitors to the museum (and the museum’s website) a glimpse of the commemorative items that the founding generation produced and purchased.

July 15

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Newport Mercury (July 15, 1776).

“A DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE … is now to be sold by S. Southwick, printed on one side of a large sheet.”

On July 15, 1776, three newspapers printed the Declaration of Independence for subscribers and other readers.  Although word of mouth carried the news faster than print, the Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer, the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, and the Norwich Packet and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New-Hampshire and Rhode-Island Weekly Advertiser gave readers the opportunity to examine the grievances against the king and the political philosophy that supported the Continental Congress’s decision to declare independence.

The Declaration of Independence did not appear in the Newport Mercury even though Solomon Southwick, the printer, had received a copy.  The layout and content of the July 15 edition suggest that he did not acquire it before type had been set and printing commenced for that issue.  He did have space, however, to insert his own advertisement about the founding document immediately after the news and before other advertisements.  “A DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE was published, by the Honorable CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, the 4th instant,” the printer informed the public, “and is now to be sold by S. Southwick, printed on one side of large sheet.”  He likely envisioned consumers purchasing copies to display in their homes, shops, or offices, just as John Holt, the printer of the New-York Journal, suggested that Patriots should do with the copy he printed as the third page of his newspaper four days earlier.

Southwick also planned to disseminate the Declaration of Independence via the Newport Mercury.  “Those of our readers who don’t chuse to buy it in this form,” the broadside already on sale, “may see it in the Newport Mercury next Monday, at the furthest.”  That last phrase suggested the possibility that Southwick would publish a supplement, postscript, or extraordinary issue sometime before the next regular issue of the weekly newspaper came out.  He did just that with a Newport Mercury Extraordinary “Containing the FRESHEST ADVICES” on July 18.  It featured the entire text of the Declaration of Independence.  Southwick gave it a few days for customers to purchase the broadside, but he then opted to provide subscribers with the momentous document without growing frustrated with the delay as they waited an entire week.  He was the only American printer to publish a supplement or extraordinary that deviated from his newspaper’s usual publication schedule upon receiving a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Unlike Holt, who fit the entire document on a single page of the New-York Journal so readers could display it, Southwick did not manage to fit the Declaration of Independence on just one page.  It filled the entire second page and a few lines and John Hancock’s signature spilled over onto the third page.  Subscribers could read the Declaration of Independence for themselves, but if they wanted a copy to display then they needed to purchase the broadside available at Southwick’s printing office.

July 10

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

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

Constitutional Gazette (July 10, 1776).

“A Choice Collection of American Liberty Songs and Pamphlets to be sold by the Printer.”

On July 10, 1776, the Constitutional Gazette became the first newspaper published in New York to print the Declaration of Independence.  John Anderson, the printer, devoted the first two pages of that issue to “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled.”  The same day, Mary Katharine Goddard printed the Declaration of Independence in the Maryland Journal and the Baltimore Advertiser.  Unlike most other printers, Goddard inserted as triumphant headline: “THE THIRTEEN United STATES OF AMERICA, Have declared INDEPENDENCY.”  She used decorative type to draw attention to the headline and manicules at either end of the phrase “Have declared INDEPENDENCY” for even more emphasis.  The Declaration of Independence appeared in Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette, also published in Baltimore, the previous day.  The Pennsylvania Gazette and the Pennsylvania Journal, both printed in Philadelphia, also published the Declaration of Independence on July 10, joining other newspapers from that city that already published it.

Maryland Journal (July 10, 1776).

News about independence spread quickly.  No doubt word of mouth carried the news more quickly than printers set type for their newspapers, yet printing the Declaration of Independence in newspapers gave citizens of the new nation the opportunity to examine the complete text for themselves, engaging with the theory of government established in the first paragraphs of the document, the many grievances against the king in the middle, and, finally, the bold action taken by the Continental Congress.  The copy of July 10 edition of the Constitutional Gazette that has been digitized for America’s Historical Newspapers includes a handwritten note above the masthead on the first page: “A Good thing.”  One reader not only perused the Declaration of Independence but also recorded their endorsement of it.

On the final page of that issue, Anderson offered another chance for that reader and everyone else to demonstrate their patriotism.  In a brief but well-timed advertisement, he announced, “A Choice Collection of American Liberty Songs and Pamphlets to be sold by the Printer.”  He likely hoped that the excitement caused by the Declaration of Independence would inspire readers to become consumers of patriotic memorabilia.  After all, they now had even more reason to learn “American Liberty Songs” and join in singing them with their friends and neighbors.

Constitutional Gazette (July 10, 1776).

May 23

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

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

New-York Journal (May 23, 1776).

“AN ORATION, Delivered … on the Re-Interment of the Remains of … JOSEPH WARREN.”

Joseph Warren was an American hero, not just a hero in Massachusetts.  That was part of the point of the proliferation of local editions of the oration that Perez Morton delivered “on the Re-Interment of the Remains of the late Most Worshipful GRAND MASTER, … President of the late CONGRESS of this Colony, AND MAJOR-GENERAL of the Massachusetts Forces; Who was slain in the battle of BUNKER’s HILL, [on] June 17, 1775.”  When the siege of Boston ended with the departure of British forces on March 17, 1776, Warren’s brothers searched for his body.  After identifying it by an artificial tooth, they arranged for a Masonic funeral and burial in the Granary Burial Ground.  A few weeks later, John Gill advertised Morton’s oration from the occasion.  It met with such demand that he issued a second edition.

Yet Gill was not the only printer to publish, advertise, and distribute the oration in memory of Warren.  John Dunlap, the printer of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, produced an edition in Philadelphia.  Simultaneously, John Holt, the printer of the New-York Journal, published yet another edition.  Advertisements for the various local editions featured nearly identical copy drawn from the extensive title of the oration.  Not only did that relieve the printers of composing their own advertisements, but it also provided readers in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania with a succinct overview of Warren’s most significant achievements, his commitment as a Patriot, and the sacrifice he made for the American cause.  As the war entered its second year and more colonizers advocating for declaring independence rather than seeking redress of grievances within the imperial system, newspapers throughout the colonies regularly carried letters, resolutions, and other items that made John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, and George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army, known far and wide.  Yet the movement benefited from having even more heroes for Patriots to venerate.  The local editions of Morton’s oration in memory of Warren and the advertisements for in newspapers that circulated far beyond Boston, New York, and Philadelphia played a part in constructing a pantheon of American heroes.

May 6

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

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

Norwich Packet (May 6, 1776).

“FOUR different Views of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, &c. on the 19th  of April, 1775.”

With the war now in its second year, Joseph Carpenter, a goldsmith and jeweler, marketed a series of commemorative prints depicting the battles of Lexington and Concord that he sold at his shop “Near the Court-House” in Norwich, Connecticut.  Even though he stated that these “FOUR different Views” had “Just come to Hand,” other retailers had made them available months earlier.  In fact, his advertisement in the May 6, 1776, edition of the Norwich Packet replicated large portions of the James Lockwood’s advertisement in the December 13, 1775, edition of the Connecticut Journal.

In addition to the description of the series of prints matching, the titles that Carpenter listed for the prints reflected Lockwood’s advertisement rather than the titles engraved at the top of each of them.  Plate I was called “The Battle of Lexington” on both the print and in the advertisement, but Plate II was simply called “A View of the Town of Concord” on the print.  In both advertisements, however, it had a more elaborate title, “A View of the Town of Concord, with the Ministerial Troops destroying the Stores.”  The title engraved on Plate III named it “The Engagement at the North Bridge in Concord,” yet the advertisements called it “The Battle at the North-Bridge in Concord.”  Finally, the tile on Plate IV declared that it presented a “View of the South Part of Lexington,” yet the advertisements said that it show “The south Part of Lexington, where the first Detachment were joined by Lord Percy.

Both advertisements informed prospective customers that “[t]he above four Plates were neatly engraved on Copper, from original Paintings take on the Spot.”  Amos Doolittle engraved the images based on painting by Ralph Earl.  How Carpenter acquired them, he did not say, only that they had “Just come to Hand.”  When they did, it appears that whoever supplied them to the goldsmith and jeweler in Norwich also sent an advertisement clipped from a newspaper printed in New Haven or a letter that copied the notice in the Connecticut Journal.  Lockwood’s original advertisement circulated in unintended ways before being disseminated in print once again for the benefit of another purveyor of the commemorative prints in another newspaper.  Carpenter did not generate his own copy when he marketed the “FOUR different Views of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, &c. on the 19th  of April, 1775,” but instead relied on an advertisement originally published months earlier.

April 25

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

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

New-England Chronicle (April 25, 1776).

“An ORATION … on the re-interment of the remains of … JOSEPH WARREN.”

Samuel Hall, the printer of the New-England Chronicle, published the last issue of that newspaper “at his Printing-Office in Stoughton-Hall, HARVARD-COLLEGE,” in Cambridge on April 4, 1776.  Three weeks later, he resumed publication “at his Office next to the OLIVER CROMWELL Tavern, in SCHOOL-STREET,” in Boston.  The newspaper continued with the same volume and issue numbering.  The evacuation of the British and the end of the siege of Boston on March 17 presented an opportunity for Hall to enter the city, making the New-England Chronicle the only newspaper printed in Boston at the time.  Benjamin Edes continued publishing the Boston-Gazette in Watertown until late October and returned the newspaper to Boston in early November.

The end of the British occupation also allowed for events and rituals that could not be undertaken while they remained.  For example, the annual commemoration of the Boston Massacre occurred in Watertown rather than in Boston.  A month later, however, the British had departed and patriots gathered “at the King’s Chapel in Boston [for] the re-interment of the remains of the late Most Worshipful Grand Master, JOSEPH WARREN, Esq; President of the late Congress of this Colony, and Major-General of the Massachusetts forces; who was slain in the battle of Bunker’s-Hill, June 17, 1775.”  On that solemn occasion, Perez Morton delivered an oration, yet colonizers did not have to attend the reinterment on April 8 to learn about the minister’s message.  John Gill, Edes’s former partner in printing the Boston-Gazette, advertised that he published and sold Morton’s Oration in the April 25 edition of the New-England Chronicle, that first issue published in Boston.  It was simultaneously an act of commemoration and an act of commodification of the events of the revolutionary era, not unlike the publication and dissemination of the annual oration delivered on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre.  Putting copies of Morton’s Oration into circulation in Boston and beyond contributed to the veneration of Warren as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of his country.  The pamphlet met with such demand that Gill published a second edition.  In addition, John Holt published a local edition in New York and John Dunlap did the same in Philadelphia, disseminating Morton’s oration in memory of Warren beyond New England.

Hall, a savvy entrepreneur, piggybacked on Gill’s advertisement for Morton’s Oration.  Immediately below, he inserted his own advertisement for a “Mezzotinto Print of the late Gen. Warren.”  He apparently expected that demand for one would enhance demand for the other, providing consumers with another opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism through their decision to purchase commemorative items.

April 1

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

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

Boston-Gazette (April 1, 1776).

“AN ORATION … To Commemorate the Bloody Massacre at Boston: Perpetrated March 5, 1770.”

The annual tradition continued during the first year of the Revolutionary War.  Each year since the Boston Massacre, residents of the city gathered to mark the anniversary, honor the men who died when British regulars fired into a crowd of protestors, and hear an oration about the dangers of a standing army stationed in an urban port during times of peace.  James Lovell delivered the address in 1771, followed by Joseph Warren in 1772, Benjamin Church in 1773, and John Hancock in 1774.  In March 1775, Joseph Warren gave the last oration before the Revolutionary War commenced with the battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19.  Three months later, he was killed in action at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Patriots made adjustments to the ritual in 1776.  The British occupation of Boston continued.  The Continental Army, commanded by George Washington, continued the siege of the city.  The Massachusetts Provincial Congress met at Watertown.  It was from there that William Cooper, the “Town Clerk of Boston” in exile, announced that according to a “vote in a town-meeting legally assembled” on March 5, 1775, “an ORATION will be delivered at the meeting-house, in Watertown, on the 5th of March next, … to commemorate the horrid Massacre perpetrated in Boston, on the evening of the 5th of March, 1770, by a party of Soldiers of the 29th Regiment, under the command of Capt. Thomas Preston.”  Refugees from Boston and the inhabitants of Watertown and other nearby towns gathered in Watertown for the annual oration about “the ruinous tendency of Standing armies being placed in large and populous cities, in time of peace.”  It was also a rally for asserting “the necessity of such exertions as the inhabitants of Boston then manifested, whereby the designs of the conspirators against the public safety, have been frustrated.”

Although circumstances forced those “who were inhabitants of Boston” to shift the location for the annual commemoration, other aspects remained constant, including the printing, marketing, and dissemination of the oration a few weeks after the gathering occurred.  This time, Peter Thacher delivered “AN ORATION … To Commemorate the Bloody Massacre at Boston: Perpetrated March 5, 1770.”  Benjamin Edes, who had relocated the Boston-Gazette from Boston to Watertown, printed the pamphlet and sold it at his printing office.  As had been the case with previous orations, this gave those who had been present an opportunity to experience Thacher’s address again and as many times as they wished to read it.  The pamphlet also gave those who had not attended a chance to read what Thacher said and imbibe the arguments made in support of the American cause.  Gathering for the oration was an important civic act, yet the circulation of the oration in print may have had an impact just as significant.