Concert

August 14

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

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

Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer (August 11, 1774).

“TEA and COFFEE every afternoon.”

Amid the turmoil over tea that included the Boston Tea Party in December 1773 and closure and blockade of the harbor via the Boston Port Act in June 1774, not all advertisers and consumers abstained from the problematic beverage, despite general calls for boycotting and destroying tea and newspaper editorials that condemned both the threat to liberty and negative effects on the body associated with drinking tea.  Along with coffee, tea had become so much a part of dining, entertaining, and socializing that some entrepreneurs continued to include it among the amenities they offered to their customers in August 1774.

For instance, Edward Bardin, an experienced tavernkeeper, promoted tea when he “open’d the noted tavern at the corner house in the Fields … where ladies and gentlemen may depend upon the best entertainment and attendance.”  In an advertisement in the August 11 edition of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, he advised that “The PANTRY opened every evening” with an array of items on the menu, including veal, mutton, duck, chicken, lobster, pickled oysters, custards, and tarts “of different KINDS.”  Patrons could also rent a “large commodious ROOM, fit for balls or assemblies.”  For those interested in a leisurely outing, Bardin served “TEA and COFFEE every afternoon.”  Even though the political crisis intensified, he neither removed the troublesome beverage from his menu nor, apparently, believed that advertising it would lead to more trouble than it was worth.  Not everyone lined up to take a principled stand against tea.

New-York Journal (August 11, 1774).

The same day that Bardin published his advertisement for the first time, Mr. Hoar of Princeton, New Jersey, inserted his own notice in the New-York Journal to invite readers in his town to attend a “CONCERT, of vocal and instrumental MUSIC” at “Mr. Whitehead’s Long Room.”  He listed several “songs, cantatas, and duets” on the program.  In addition, the concert would “conclude with a Ball, which shall be conducted on the same plan, as at Bath, Tunbridge, Scarborough, and all the polite assemblies in London.”  The proprietor of the establishment, in a nota bene, promised that “every genteel accommodation will be provided.”  Among those genteel accommodations, “Tea and coffee included” with each ticket.  Neither Hoar nor Whitehead anticipated that serving tea would alienate so many people that it would be better not to mention the beverage.  Instead, they made it a selling point in their advertisement.  Did they face any ramifications for doing so?  Perhaps growing public sentiment eventually encouraged more caution, but the tide had not turned against tea so much that some advertisers refused to include the drink as one amenity among many when they promoted entertainments to colonizers in the summer of 1774.

June 15

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

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

Pennsylvania Journal (June 15, 1774).

“This concert and ball is made by the desire of several Ladies and Gentlemen of this city.”

Genteel residents of Philadelphia did not want to miss the “GRAND CONCERT & BALL, At the ASSEMBLY TOOM in Lodge Alley” on June 17, 1774.  At least that was the intention of Signior Sodi, “First DANCING MASTER of the Opera in Paris and London,” when he advertised the event in the Pennsylvania Journal.  Sodi worked with “Mr. VIDAL, who has been a Musician of the chambers of the King of Portugal,” in putting together a program that included ten musical performances in two acts followed by demonstrations of Sodi’s dancing.  He claimed that he hosted the event “by the desire of several Ladies and Gentlemen of this city” who wished for him “to shew his talents as a master.”  For his part, he “humbly requests the favour of the public to give their countenance.”  To do that, the audience needed to purchase tickets, either from Sodi “at the Bunch of Grapes” on Third Street or “at the Bar” at the London Coffee House, a popular place for socializing and conducting business.

Whether or not “Ladies and Gentlemen of this city” encouraged Sodi to host a concert and ball, he used the opportunity to market other endeavors to support himself beyond ticket sales for that event.  He used the occasion to announce that he planned to “open a School” in September.  Until then, he “will wait on any Lady or Gentleman privately at their houses or elsewhere” to give lessons.  In addition to learning the steps for several dances, his students would also receive instruction “to walk with propriety.”  His pupils, Sodi suggested, would demonstrate more grace both on and off the dance floor, an important goal for colonizers anxious about so many aspects of their comportment.  Indeed, those interested in lessons from Sodi may have also taken note of lessons that Francis Daymon, “Master of the French and Latin Languages,” advertised in the same column in the Pennsylvania Journal.  Yet Sodi did not stake his entire livelihood on teaching the genteel and those aspiring to join their ranks to dance.  He also “acquaints the public in general” that he “bro’t a parcel of fine trinkets and jewels of the newest fashion, with a variety of diamond rings, and a great quantity of instrumental strings.”  He offered those items for sale at the Bunch of Grapes.  His “GRAND CONCERT & BALL” presented an opportunity for merchandising, not unlike the modern entertainment industry.

April 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

New-York Journal (April 11, 1771).

“A CONCERT … For the Benefit of a respectable but distressed Family of ORPHANS.”

An advertisement in the April 11, 1771, edition of the New-York Journal invited readers to participate in a philanthropic venture intended to aid children in need.  On the following Wednesday, the advertisement announced, “A CONCERT Of Vocal and Instrumental MUSICK For the Benefit of a respectable but distressed Family of ORPHANS” would take place at Bolton’s Tavern.  Those who wished to attend could purchase tickets in advance.

Altruism, however, did not seem to be the sole motivation for planning or attending this concert.  Those involved in the venture performed their status (or the status they aspired to achieve) in the community at the same time that the musicians performed for their entertainment.  The newspaper notice declared that “several LADIES of DISTINCTION” determined that the “Family of ORPHANS” merited assistance.  Readers who purchased tickets and attended the concert could join the ranks of those elite patrons of unfortunate orphans, at least temporarily during the performance at Bolton’s Tavern.  The concert presented an opportunity to be seen by others who also supported the cause and would later remember who else attended.  Indeed, the advertisement challenged “every Person of Sensibility and Benevolence” to come to the aid of the orphans by attending the concert.  Participating in this endeavor “For the Benefit” of an impoverished family also accrued benefits to those who purchased tickets.

The advertisement also commented on the status of the orphans whose plight inspired “LADIES of DISTINCTION” in New York to intervene on their behalf.  Those orphans, the advertisement assured readers, were indeed deserving of such charity, being “respectable but distressed.”  That phrase paralleled the invocation of “Sensibility and Benevolence” deployed to describe those who might attend the concert.  Both phrases suggested that philanthropy involved more than giving to others who found themselves in adverse conditions.  Instead, the circumstances of how this “Family of ORPHANS” came to require charity as well as the ability of benefactors to discern who warranted assistance (and who did not deserve their attention) each shaped attitudes and expectations about the concert at Bolton’s Tavern.