Connecticut Gazette

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 2

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (December 2, 1774).

“All the Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONGRESS.”

Among the several advertisements that ran in the December 2, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Gazette, a brief notice announced that “All the Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONGRESS, which have yet been printed” were “sold by the Printer hereof.”  That expanded the options that readers had for learning more about the meetings held by the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia from September 5 through October 26.  The Connecticut Gazette and other newspapers provided coverage.  In addition, printers throughout the colonies began publishing, advertising, and selling Extracts from the Votes and Proceedings of the American Continental Congress shortly after delegates concluded their business.  Within a month, William Bradford and Thomas Bradford advertised a “JOURNAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,” an even more complete account to keep colonizers informed about current events.

Timothy Green, the printer of the Connecticut Gazette, was among the printers who produced a local edition of the Extracts, yet when he advertised “All the Proceedings … which have yet been printed” he did not refer to a volume from his own press.  Although printers far and wide quickly created and marketed local editions of the Extracts, only a couple opted to print the more extensive Journal.  The Bradfords advertised their Philadelphia edition.  Hugh Gaine, the printer of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, printed the only other edition.  Green likely sold Gaine’s edition at his printing office in New Haven, given the proximity of that town to New York, though the Bradfords could have dispatched copies via a ship bound from Philadelphia to New England.  No matter which printer supplied Green with copies of the Proceedings, he advertised the journal of the meetings of the First Continental Congress to readers in Connecticut a little over a week after the Bradfords first promoted their edition in the Pennsylvania Journal.  He did so the day after the Continental Association, a nonimportation pact intended to unite the colonies in resisting the Coercive Acts, went into effect.  As readers made decisions about what they would buy and sell, Green presented them with another option for learning about the political principles behind the Continental Association and the other actions taken by the First Continental Congress.

September 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (September 9, 1774).

“CONSIDERATIONS on the Measures carrying on by GREAT BRITAIN, against the Colonies in North-America.”

As the number of American editions of Considerations on the Measures Carrying On with Respect to the British Colonies in North-America increased in 1774, so did the number of newspapers that carried advertisements for the political tract.  John Holt, the printer of the New-York Journal, advertised his edition.  Benjamin Edes and John Gill, the printers of the Boston-Gazette, did so as well for their edition.  Ebenezer Watson, printer of the Connecticut Courant, ran his own advertisement when he published a Hartford edition.  Yet it was not solely the printers of the various American editions who advertised or sold the popular pamphlet.  Watson listed local agents in eight towns and two post riders who sold his edition.  David Atwater advertised the New York edition for sale in New Haven in the Connecticut Journal.

Timothy Green, printer of the Connecticut Gazette, joined their ranks with an advertisement in the September 9, 1774, edition of his newspaper.  That made the pamphlet available for purchase in New London in addition to other towns in New England and New York.  Compared to the other advertisements, however, Green’s notice was quite brief, just three lines that completed the column following “THOMAS ALLEN’S Marine List,” a regular feature, on the third page.  “TO BE SOLD by T. GREEN, CONSIDERATIONS on the Measures carrying on by GREAT BRITAIN, against the Colonies in North-America.”  Green did not provide any of the elaborate description about how well the pamphlet had been received in London and how it had influenced residents there to support the American colonies against the abuses perpetrated by Parliament, nor did he encourage readers to review it for themselves so they could be better informed.  Perhaps he expected that the news he printed throughout the rest of his newspaper and the conversations about current events taking place everywhere anyone went those days provided enough reason for colonizers to acquire the pamphlet.  He also did not state which edition he sold, though the variant title in his advertisement suggests that he carried Watson’s Hartford edition.  In stocking and promoting the pamphlet, Green joined printers, post riders, and others in disseminating a political tract intended to influence colonizers and help them in articulating their grievances against Parliament.

August 12

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (August 12, 1774).

“ISAAC DOOLITTLE, of NEW-HAVEN … prepared an Apparatus convenient for BELL-FOUNDING.”

On August 12, 1774, “ISAAC DOOLITTLE, of NEW-HAVEN,” placed an advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette, published in New London, to alert readers that he could cast “any Size Bell commonly us’d in this, or the neighbouring Provinces.”  The entrepreneur explained that he had “erected a suitable building, and prepared an Apparatus convenient for BELL-FOUNDING.”  Furthermore, he “had good Success in his first Attempt,” prompting him to follow that trade and seek customers.  Realizing that the market in and near New Haven would not support his business, he embarked on an advertising campaign in multiple newspapers published in Connecticut.  Along with his notice in the Connecticut Gazette, he simultaneously inserted an advertisement in the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy.  It featured almost identical copy, though Doolittle did not consider it necessary to advise readers of the newspaper that served his town that he was “of NEW-HAVEN.”

Not surprisingly, he did so once again in his advertisement in the August 16 edition of the Connecticut Courant, directing prospective customers in Hartford and nearby towns to send orders and other correspondence to him in New Haven.  He did not, however, run his advertisement in the Norwich Packet, the last of the four newspapers printed in Connecticut at the time.  It was also the newest, having commenced publication less than a year earlier.  Perhaps that influenced Doolittle’s decision not to invest in advertising in yet another newspaper.  He may have been unfamiliar with the Norwich Packet or doubtful that its circulation would justify the cost of advertising.  He was not the only advertiser who opted for notices in the Connecticut Courant, the Connecticut Gazette, and the Connecticut Journal, but not the Norwich Packet during that newspaper’s first year.  Even one advertiser new to Norwich passed over the Norwich Packet in favor of placing his notice in the well-established Connecticut Gazette, though he may have depended on word-of-mouth to reach prospective customers in his new location.  The colophon for the Norwich Packet advised that the printers “thankfully received” both subscriptions and advertisements “for this Paper,” but that was not sufficient to convince some prospective advertisers in other towns to extend their marketing campaigns to include the colony’s newest newspaper.

August 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (August 5, 1774).

“All Persons indebted to T. GREEN, either for News-Papers, Advertisements, or otherwise are requested to make immediate Payment.”

Among the many advertisements that appeared on the final page of the August 5, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Gazette, Timothy Green, the printer, inserted a brief notice calling on readers to settle accounts in his printing office in New London.  “All Persons indebted to T. GREEN, either for News-Papers, Advertisements, or otherwise,” it read, “are requested to make immediate Payment.”  The “otherwise” included books and pamphlets.  Green simultaneously advertised several including “POEMS on various SUBJECTS, RELIGIOUS AND MORAL, By PHILLIS WHEATLEY,” “A PLEA, In Vindication of the Connecticut Title to the contested Lands, lying West of the Province of New-York … By BENJAMIN TRUMBULL,” and “The JUDGMENT of whole Kingdoms and Nations … By Lord Somers.”  Green likely stocked stationery and writing supplies as well.  Many printers even peddled patent medicines for supplementary revenue.

Printers also did job printing, such as blanks (printed forms), broadsides, and handbills.  When Green called on those indebted to him for advertisements to submit payment, he may have meant customers who ordered broadsides, handbills, and other advertising ephemera.  That was sometimes what printers meant when they solicited advertisements.  Such was the case when Joseph Crukshank announced that he opened a printing office in Philadelphia in 1769.  “Particular care will be taken,” he pledged, “to do Advertisements, Blanks, &c. on very short notice.”  Isaiah Thomas was more specific in the colophon that regularly ran at the bottom of the final page of the Massachusetts Spy in the early 1770s: “Small HAND-BILLS at an Hour’s Notice.”  That may have been the kind of work that Green meant, but he may have also intended to include paid notices that appeared in the Connecticut Gazette.  If so, extending credit to newspaper advertisers did not align with the business practice traditionally identified by historians of the early American press: printers supposedly allowed credit for subscriptions yet demanded payment in advance for newspaper advertisements.  The revenue from advertising underwrote whatever subscribers neglected to pay.  Yet printers sometimes inserted notices that indicated they had published newspaper advertisements on credit.  Ebenezer Watson, printer of the Connecticut Courant, reconsidered that policy when he announced that “No Advertisements will for the future be published in this paper, without the money is first paid.”  Green may have allowed credit for advertisements in the Connecticut Gazette.  The wording in his notice does not definitively eliminate that possibility.

July 1

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (July 1, 1774).

“To be sold by … CONSTITUTIONAL Post-Riders.”

The front page of the July 1, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Gazette featured an open letter “TO THE KING” from “AMERICA” followed immediately by an advertisement for a book, The Judgment of Whole Kingdoms and Nations, Concerning the Rights, Power, and Prerogative of Kings, and the Rights, Privileges, and Properties of the People.  The petition requested a redress of grievances that took into account the “rights and privileges … solemnly given, granted, confirmed, ratified and recognized … by your royal predecessors and their parliaments.”  The book, a constitutional history of Great Britain, echoed that theme in much greater detail, making it hardly a coincidence that advertisement just happened to follow the letter.

American printers in three cities had recently produced American editions of The Judgment of Whole Kingdoms and Nations.  In 1773, John Dunlap printed it in Philadelphia and Isaiah Thomas printed it for John Langdon, a bookseller, in Boston.  The advertisement promoted a 1774 edition “JUST PUBLISH’D and to be sold by SOLOMON SOUTHWICH, in NEWPORT.”  Timothy Green, the printer of the Connecticut Gazette, also sold the book in New London.  In addition, readers could acquire it from “CONSTITUTIONAL Post-Riders” who operated out of Norwich, Lebanon, Tolland, East Haddam, and Enfield.  The National Postal Museum explains that the Constitutional Post was “an alternative to the British run Parliamentary Post.”  William Goddard originally established a “new constitutional Post … between [Philadelphia] and Baltimore” and quickly expanded it.  According to the National Postal Museum, Goddard considered the Parliamentary Post “unacceptable because it was not private – postmasters were allowed to intercept and open letters – and because he saw it as another form of taxation without the colonists’ consent.”  Many shared this view; the number of riders in Connecticut affiliated with the Constitutional Post just a few months after its founding demonstrates that was the case.  In July 1775, the Second Continental Congress assumed responsibility for the Constitutional Post, appointing Benjamin Franklin as postmaster.  Goddard desired the position, but he settled for Riding Surveyor of the Post.  By then, the Constitutional Post had demonstrated its capacity for delivering letters, newspapers, and books.  In the summer of 1774, for instance, the Constitutional Post served as a distribution network for The Judgment of Whole Kingdoms and Nations, consistent with Goddard’s vision for maintaining English rights and liberties in the colonies.

June 24

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (June 24, 1774).

“Old Books he can metamorphose into new.”

When Nathaniel Patten, “BOOKBINDER and STATIONER, from BOSTON,” set up shop in Norwich, he placed an advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette, published in New London, but curiously not in the Norwich Packet.  Perhaps he suspected that advertising in the Connecticut Gazette was the better investment since it had been in circulation for more than a decade while the Norwich Packet commenced publication only nine months earlier.  Until that time, the Connecticut Gazette had been the local newspaper for Norwich, though the Connecticut Courant (published in Hartford), the Providence Gazette, and newspapers from Boston and other cities in New England made their way to Norwich, some more consistently than others depending on arrangements that subscribers made with post riders.  In New England and beyond, newspapers served colonies and regions rather than just the towns where they were published.  The full title of the Norwich Packet and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, and Rhode Island Weekly Advertiser revealed its aspirations to do so as it built up its circulation.  For the moment, however, Patten may have believed that advertising in the Connecticut Gazette would yield more customers.

The bookbinder and stationer made several appeals in hopes of drawing readers to his shop or convincing them to send orders.  Like many others in his trade, he also sold books, giving over more than half the space in his advertisement to a list of books and pamphlets he stocked.  Those “Books upon the most important Subjects” included “the Hon. John Hancock’s Oration on the 5th of March, 1774” in commemoration of the Boston Massacre.  He also listed many kinds of paper and writing equipment, such as “Sealing Wax” and “Brass Ink-Holders,” promising a “variety of other Articles in the Stationery Way.”  Patten declared that he had been “regularly bred to the [bookbinding] Business.”  In other words, he received formal training as a youth, preparing him to “bind, gild and letter Books in as splendid a Manner as if done in London.”  The newcomer from Boston did not merely compare his skills to what was available in that city but instead asserted that the quality of his work was equal to that produced in the metropolis at the center of the empire.  To that end, Patten boasted that “Old Books he can metamorphose into new,” pledging that “at least the Difference will not be perceptible to those who do not open them.”  He could not reverse wear from years of use or repair other damages to the pages themselves, but he could transform the bindings, the most visible part of any books displayed on shelves or elsewhere.  That claim challenged prospective customers to put Patten to the test so they could judge for themselves what the bookbinder was capable of accomplishing.  Even if they started with just one volume, satisfied customers likely meant more business over time.

April 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (April 8, 1774).

“… that the Practice of Physick may be put under some better Regulation.”

A “Number of Physicians in the County of WINDHAM” inserted an advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette in the spring of 1774.  In it, they professed that they had been contemplating “how great Importance it is that those who enter upon the Practice of Physick, should be endued with Knowledge and Skill.”  That was necessary, the physicians asserted, “to enable them to prosecute the undertaking in the most useful Manner,” achieving the best results for their patients.  That being the case, they called a meeting of “their Brethren of the Faculty” in Windham County to discuss “the Matter, and (if it thought expedient) prefer a Memorial” or petition “to the General Assembly … that the Practice of Physick may be put under some better Regulation.”  At a glance, their notice suggested that increased professionalization in their field would yield better care for patients.

The timing of their advertisement, however, suggests that this “Number of Physicians” may have had other motivations.  A call for “some better Regulation” may have been an attempt to reduce or eliminate competition from others who provided various forms of medical treatment.  Consider the testimonial about the hernia trusses “made and applied by Mr. STEPHEN JOHNSON, of Ashford, in Windham-County” that first ran in the March 25 edition of the Connecticut Gazette.  Then note the date, March 26, on the announcement from the “Number of Physicians.”  Did a “Number of Physicians” actually consult with each other before inserting that advertisement in the next issue of the Connecticut Gazette?  Or did one of them see the testimonial about the trusses that proclaimed Johnson “hath the greatest Skill in that Business of any Man we ever heard of” and determine that such competition threatened the livelihoods and, just as significantly, the status of physicians in the area?  Perhaps a single physician called the meeting, hoping to rally support among others.  The advertisement also served as a counterpoint to the testimonial about Johnson’s trusses, especially when both appeared in the Connecticut Gazette on April 1 and on the same page on April 8.

Professionalization of the medical field accelerated in the late eighteenth century.  Doctors displaced midwives, but women who provided care were not the only targets of physicians who received formal training.  These two advertisements seem to tell a story of a “Number of Physicians” (or perhaps just one with a lot of initiative) to limit the medical treatment delivered by other men who did meet the standards of the “better Regulation” they envisioned.

April 1

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (April 1, 1774).

“We the Subscribers have received such unexpected and unheard of Relief, and final Cures.”

It looked like a letter to the editor, but actually it was a testimonial advertising “Trusses or Bandages” for treating hernias.  The notice opened with a salutation, “Mr. GREEN, Please to insert the following in your next Paper,” addressing Timothy Green, the printer of the Connecticut Gazette.  Had it appeared only once on March 25, 1774, it might have been intended as an interesting news item selected by Green or it might have been an advertisement quickly discontinued.  That it ran in three consecutive issues, however, confirms that it was a paid notice that took an unusual format compared to most other advertisements for goods and services.  Testimonials about medicines and medical services appeared occasionally, though not regularly, in colonial newspapers in the 1760s and 1770s.

Eight “Subscribers [who] have received such unexpected and unheard of Relief, and final Cures, of the Difficulty of the Burst” (or hernia) extolled the efficacy of treatment provided by Stephen Johnson of Ashford.  They proclaimed that “by so many infallible Proofs, he hath the greatest Skill in that Business of any Man we ever heard of.”  Johnson had been so successful in alleviating their discomfort that those he assisted stated that they “Do think it our Duty, for the Benefit of Mankind, to publish” their endorsement of the “Trusses or Bandages, made and applied” by Johnson.  Furthermore, they encouraged “Any Person needing his Help” to contact Johnson, promising that if they sent “an exact Measure of their Body or Waist, with the Side in which the Breach is made, [they] may be as exactly fitted as present.”  Johnson possessed such great skill, the eight “Subscribers” insisted, that he could provide effective treatment even without consulting with patients in person.  He offered a precursor to mail order home health care supplies and equipment.

No doubt Daniel Holt, Samson Keyes, Amos Babcock, and five other “Subscribers” would testify to their experiences with Johnson and his trusses if asked by friends and neighbors who saw the notice in the Connecticut Gazette, but most likely they did not decide on their own to collaborate in writing and publishing that testimonial.  Instead, Johnson probably coordinated the effort, composed the copy himself, polled satisfied clients for permission to include their names, and paid top insert the advertisement in the newspaper.  Perhaps one or more of those clients enthusiastically thanked him for his assistance, planting the idea for the testimonial.  Inspired by their gratitude, Johnson may have seen an opportunity to leverage his prior experience into a marketing effort that would garner new clients.

March 25

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (March 25, 1774).

“LOTTERY … for finishing and compleating the great Wharf Bridge.”

Lotteries funded a variety of public works projects in early America.  In October 1773, for instance, the “GENERAL ASSEMBLY of the Colony of CONNECTICUT” … approved a lottery “for raising the Sum … for finishing and compleating the great Wharf Bridge, at CHELSEA, in NORWICH.”  The lottery managers, Joshua Lathrop, Samuel Tracy, and Rufus Lathrop, set about advertising the “SCHEME OF A LOTTERY” in November, continuing their efforts for several months into 1774.  They ran two notices in the March 25 edition of the Connecticut Gazette, the original advertisement and an update that gave a deadline for purchasing tickets.  In addition to that newspaper published in New London, they also placed the original notice in the Norwich Packet on March 24.  Between the two newspapers, the managers reached readers in the region likely to support the project.

They competed, however, with another lottery.  The managers of the “COLCHESTER LOTTERY” published their own “SCHEME” for their drawing.  The advertisements for the two lotteries appeared one after the other, filling almost an entire column in the Connecticut Gazette.  Immediately below them, Timothy Green, the printer and a local agent working on behalf of both lotteries, placed a notice advising that “Tickets in Colchester and Chelsea Bridge LOTTERIES are to be Sold by T. Green, in New-London, by Nathan Bushnell, jun. Aaron Bushnell, Joseph Knight, and David Belding, Post-Riders.”  In hopes of convincing colonizers to purchase their tickets, the managers of the Norwich Bridge Lottery emphasized that their endeavor served “the good Purpose of finishing said Bridge, which will be so greatly exposed, unless it can soon be completed.”

Preparations for a lottery could last as long as a year, but the managers aimed to complete the Norwich Bridge Lottery in six months.  In their update, they advised that they “hope to be ready to proceed to the drawing by the 20th of April next, or sooner.”  To meet that goal, they needed to sell all the tickets as quickly as possible.  They called on local agents like Green and the post riders to “dispose” of their tickets by April 1 or “return them in to the Managers.”  Similarly, they requested that “those who intend to be Adventurers in said Lottery will soon apply for their Tickets, that there may be no delay in the Drawing.”  That served the dual purpose of dispersing prizes to the winners and raising the funds necessary to complete the work on the bridge.  As with other lotteries for public works projects, the managers encouraged colonizers to contemplate both their own interests and the interests of their communities, anticipating that the combination would convince them to purchase tickets.

Connecticut Gazette (March 25, 1774).