Discount for Volume

October 31

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette (October 31, 1775).

“Large allowance to those who buy Quantities to Sell again.”

When John Dunlap published “FATHER ABRAHAM’S ALMANACK, For the Year of our LORD 1776,” in the fall of 1775, he set about advertising the handy reference manual.  He gave the advertisement a privileged place in the September 11, 1775, edition of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, the newspaper he printed in Philadelphia.  It ran immediately below the lists of ships arriving and departing from the customs house, increasing the chances that readers interested more in news than advertisements would see it.  Unlike other printers who hawked almanacs, Dunlap did not provide an extensive description of the contents to entice prospective customers, though he did indicate that “the ingenious DAVID RITTENHOUSE … of this city” prepared the “Astronomical Calculations.”  The printer believed that the astronomer’s reputation would help sell copies of the almanac.

He also ran advertisements in Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette, the newspaper he printed in Baltimore.  One of those notices appeared in the October 31 edition, again highlighting Rittenhouse’s role in making the “Astronomical Calculations.”  This advertisement did not include additional information about the contents, but it did include an appeal to retails that did not appear in the first iteration of the advertisement in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet on September 11 nor in the most recent insertion on October 30.  Dunlap promised a “Large allowance to those who buy Quantities to Sell again.”  In other words, he offered discounts for purchasing in volume to make the almanac attractive to booksellers, shopkeepers, and peddlers.  Did Dunlap offer the same deal at his printing office in Philadelphia yet not advertise it in the public prints?  Other printers advertised discounts for buying almanacs by the dozen or by the hundred frequently enough to suggest that it was a common practice.  Given that Philadelphia had far more printers than Baltimore, many of them publishing one or more almanacs of their own, Dunlap may have carefully managed the discounts, offering one rate in one city and another rate in the other.  That did not necessarily matter to retailers who saw his advertisement in Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette.  His printing office in Baltimore, opened less than a year earlier, gave them easier access to almanacs than in the past.  The “Large allowance” was a bonus to convince them to take advantage of the convenience rather than order almanacs from other printers in Philadelphia or Annapolis.

July 26

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

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

Pennsylvania Gazette (July 26, 1775).

“A SERMON, on the present Situation of American Affairs … to distribute … among the Military Associators.”

A few days ago, I examined an advertisement for “A sermon on the present Situation of American Affairs” by William Smith that ran in the July 21, 1775, edition of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette.  I concluded that Wells likely sold copies of the pamphlet printed by James Humphreys, Jr., in Philadelphia and shipped to his “GREAT STATIONARY & BOOK STORE” in Charleston.  An advertisement in the July 26, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette suggests that was indeed the case.

That notice listed several printers who stocked the sermon.  It gave top billing to James Humphreys, Jr., and noted that “the other Printers in Philadelphia” also sold the sermon.  Radiating outward from the city, the list next named Matthias Slough and Francis Bailey in Lancaster and then Hugh Gaine, the printer of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, in New York.  The list concluded with “Mr. ROBERT WELLS, in Charlestown, South-Carolina.”  Humphreys apparently dispatched copies to associates both in his own city and in other towns and colonies.

Another aspect of that advertisement indicates that Wells most likely sold copies of the sermon printed by Humphreys in Philadelphia.  Wells did not mention the price in his advertisement, but Humphreys gave prices for a single copy and multiple copies: nine pence for one copy, six shillings for a dozen, and six dollars for one hundred copies.  That pricing structure concluded with a note that Humphreys intended the discount for purchasing in volume as a benefit “for such Persons as may desire to distribute them among the Military Associators.”  He encouraged officers and other Patriots to disseminate the sermon widely by making a gift of it to those who volunteered to defend American liberties.  Humphreys was not alone in envisioning that officers would give books and pamphlets about current affairs as gifts.  George Washington had recently ordered eight copies of Thomas Hanson’s Prussian Evolutions in Actual Engagements to distribute among his subordinates.

The details in Humphreys’s advertisement strengthen the case that Wells did not publish his own edition of Smith’s sermon but instead advertised and sold copies that Humphreys printed in Philadelphia and distributed to printers and booksellers in several cities and towns.  Doing so contributed to the creation of what Benedict Anderson terms an “imagined community” grounded in print.  Newspapers played an important role as printers reprinted news and editorials from one to another, yet colonizers also had access to pamphlets, tracts, and sermons that circulated widely.  They did not have to be present when Smith delivered his sermon to engage with the ideas and arguments that the minister offered for consideration.

February 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Massachusetts Spy (February 2, 1775).

“BUTTONS. MADE and sold … at the Manufactory-house, Boston.”

John Clarke’s advertisement for buttons that he “MADE and sold … at the Manufactory-house” in Boston was one of several in the February 2, 1775, edition of the Massachusetts Spy that hawked goods produced in the colonies.  He advertised at a time that the harbor had been closed and blockaded for more than eight months because of the Boston Port Act, one of several measures that Parliament enacted in response to the Boston Tea Party.  The other Coercive Acts included the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act.  In turn, the colonies refused to import British goods, having previously pursued that strategy in response to the Stamp Act in 1765 and the duties imposed on certain goods in the Townshend Acts in the late 1760s.  The Continental Association, devised by the First Continental Congress, went into effect on December 1, 1774.  In addition to prohibiting imports, it called on colonizers to encourage “domestic manufactures” or goods produced in the colonies.

Clarke not only made buttons in Boston, he made “two sorts of new fashioned buttons.”  One was a “plain flat Button, with a corded edge round it, either gilt or plated.  The other bore an inscription, “UNION AND LIBERTY IN ALL AMERICA,” that made a statement.  Consumers could express political sentiments and sartorial sensibilities simultaneously.  (Similarly, the Adverts 250 Project previously examined another newspaper notice that included “glass buttons having the word liberty printed in them.”)  Clarke’s “Liberty button,” well worth the investment, cost just a little more than the “plain flat Button,” at twenty shillings per dozen compared to eighteen shillings per dozen.  Clarke also gave “good allowance to shopkeepers to sell again.”  In other words, he offered discounts to retailers who purchased his buttons and presented them to their customers.  After all, shopkeepers had their own part to play in promoting American products to consumers and supplying them with alternatives to goods imported from Britain.  When it came to buttons, what better way to do that than with the inscribed “Liberty button” made in Boston?

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.

November 22

Carl Robert Keyes Uncategorized , , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (November 22, 1774).

“They will sell off very low … their valuable STOCK of GOODS.”

It was a going out of business sale.  That was not the language that Hawkins, Petrie, and Company used in their advertisement in the November 22, 1774, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, yet that was what they described to readers.  They first noted that their “co-partnership” would “expire” at the end of the year and, “by mutual consent,” they did not plan to renew it.  Indeed, neither of them intended to continue in business, so they called on customers and associates to settle accounts.

They also sought to liquidate their inventory, announcing that they “will sell off very low … their valuable STOCK of GOODS, which consists of a large assortment.”  Prospective customers could anticipate good deals because Hawkins, Petrie, and Company acquired their wares “on the very best terms.”  They expected cash payments (or “ready money”), but also made allowances to “sell for credit to good customers” who had made timely payments in the past.  To further entice sales, the partners offered discounts to customers “purchasing to a considerable amount,” whether merchants and shopkeepers seeking to expand their own inventories or consumers stocking up on items they frequently used.  “[T]he larger the purchase,” they proclaimed, “the lower the goods will be sold.”  In other words, Hawkins, Petrie, and Company were so eager to move their merchandise that they determined discounts on a sliding scale.  The more that a customer purchased the larger they discount they would receive.

Hawkins, Petrie, and Company did not undertake the sort of flashy going out of business sale familiar in modern marketing, but they did underscore the opportunities and advantages they made available to both consumers and other businesses in the final weeks that their business remained open.  Moving their merchandise was their priority, so they started with low prices and promised to slash them even more for customers who bought in volume.

November 17

Carl Robert Keyes Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

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

Massachusetts Spy (November 17, 1774).

“To the whole is added, The ASSOCIATION of the Grand AMERICAN CONGRESS.”

Like many colonial printers, Isaiah Thomas generated significant revenue from publishing almanacs.  From the most affluent to the most humble households in port cities and in the countryside, each year colonizers acquired these handy reference manuals that included all kinds of information.  Thomas’s “NEW-ENGLAND ALMANACK, OR THE MASSACHUSETTS CALENDER, For the Year of our Lord Christ, 1775,” for instance, had everything from the tides or “Time of High Water” to a schedule of “the Superior and Inferior Courts setting in the four Governments of New-England” to poetry.  Thomas “Embellished” the almanac with two images, “one representing an Antient Astrologer, the other a FEMALE SOLDIER.”  The latter corresponded to the “LIFE and ADVENTURES of A FEMALE SOLDIER” that the printer promoted among the content of his almanac.  Practically every almanac included the tides and many listed the dates for important meetings in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, so Thomas and other printers sought ways to distinguish their almanacs from others, including images and novel stories.

Thomas anticipated doing brisk business with the contents that he selected for his almanac.  He announced that he sold it “by the Thousand, Hundred, Groce or Dozen, or Single,” offering peddlers, booksellers, and shopkeepers the opportunity to purchase in volume for resale.  A single copy cost “Six Coppers,” yet Thomas promised that “Very great Allowances are made to those who buy to sell again.”  In addition to turning a profit on his almanac, this patriot printer also wanted it disseminated widely because of a particular item that he inserted among the contents.  His almanac included “The ASSOCIATION of the Grand AMERICAN CONGRESS.”  He referred to the Continental Association, a nonimportation agreement recently adopted by the First Continental Congress when it met in Philadelphia in September and October 1774.  The inclusion of the Continental Association distinguished Thomas’s almanac from others advertised in the same issue of the Massachusetts Spy, including “BICKERSTAFF’S BOSTON ALMANACK” published by Nathaniel Mills and John Hicks and “LOW’S ALMANACK” published by John Kneeland.  That newspaper also featured advertisements for two different editions of “EXTRACTS from the Votes and Proceedings of the American Continental CONGRESS,” which included the Continental Association.  Whether or not readers happened to purchase that political pamphlet, Thomas provided easy access to what they needed to know about the nonimportation agreement in an almanac that they would consult for a variety of purposes throughout the coming year.  He asserted that the Continental Association “is absolutely necessary for every American to be acquainted with” … and since so many colonizers already planned to purchase an almanac for 1775 they might as well become acquainted with the Continental Association by purchasing Thomas’s almanac, the one that he sought to distribute “by the Thousand, Hundred, Groce or Dozen” to get into as many households as possible.

August 13

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

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

Providence Gazette (August 13, 1774).

“No. 6. The Imperial Lip-Salve (never made by any one before).”

When Philip Russel arrived in Rhode Island “from England,” he placed an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to advise the public that he “makes and sells” a variety of medicines to treat an array of ailments and potions for other purposes.  He enumerated and named each of them, along with giving a short description and price.  His medicines included “No. 4. His surprising excellent Tooth-Drops, which will immediately cure the Tooth-Ach the first Time of using; it will also cure the Scurvy in the Gums, and will preserve the Teeth from rotting. Price Half a Dollar a Bottle,” “No. 5. The Venetian Tooth-Powder, which in a few Times using makes them white and beautiful (although very foul and black before) and preserves those that are rotten and decayed from growing worse. Price Two Shillings a Bottle,” and “No 7. A most curious Eye Water, for cold Humours or Inflammations, which will be an effectual Cure in a few Days. Price Two Shillings a Bottle.”

Rather than addressing health and hygiene, three of Sabine’s products aided with cleaning and laundering: “No. 1 HIS famous Iron-Mould Drops, for taking Iron-Moulds and Ink-Spots out of Linen, Lawn, Muslin and Lace. Price One Shilling and Sixpence a Bottle,” “No. 2. A curious Composition for taking all Sorts of Stains, Pitch, Tar, &c. out of Cloth, Silk, Stuff or Worsted. Price One Shilling and Sixpence,” and “No. 3. A Tincture for taking any Stains out of Ma[h]agony, or any other Wood. Price One Shilling and Sixpence a Bottle.”

Including the prices helped prospective customers with comparison shopping when they considered purchasing similar products from other vendors.  Low or reasonable prices likely aided in stimulating interest in Russel’s wares among consumers unfamiliar with them, despite his assertion that some of his mixtures were “famous.”  Others were unique, such as “No. 6. The Imperial Lip-Salve (never made by any one before) which effectually takes away all Spots in the Face, makes the Skin beautiful, and cures the Lips when sore, in three or four Times rubbing.”  Knowing that this item cost “Half a Dollar a Box” might have convinced the curious to give it a try if they considered it a bargain.

In a nota bene, Sabine made three marketing appeals in quick succession: “Any Ladies or Gentlemen may, if they please, see Experiments of the above. – No Cure, no Pay. – Good Allowance to Shop Keepers who buy to sell again.”  The first two encouraged prospective customers that they had nothing to lose by visiting Sabine to learn more about his products.  He gave demonstrations so they could judge for themselves the effectiveness and value of his medicines and cleaning agents.  He also offered a moneyback guarantee, promising that customers did not have to pay if his medicines did not cure their maladies.  The final appeal presented a discount for purchasing by volume, a plan to pass along his products to retailers who then had an interest in marketing them on his behalf.  From start to finish, every word of Russel’s advertisement was calculated to persuade consumers rather than merely announce goods for sale.

January 25

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (January 25, 1774).

“Lists of Public Officers; Members of the Commons House of Assembly; Days for holding Courts in South-Carolina and Georgia.”

Charles Crouch, the printer of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, also published almanacs.  Most newspaper printers did so.  Almanacs, those popular pamphlets, represented an important revenue stream for any printing office, yet publishing them could be a tricky business.  Printers aimed to produce enough copies to meet demand, but not so many that they had a significant number of leftovers that cut into their profits.

As January 1774 neared its end, Crouch seemed to have a surplus of “THOMAS MORE’s ALMANACK, for the Year 1774” that he needed to move out of his printing office on Elliott Street in Charleston.  On January 25, he ran an advertisement that offered the almanacs for sale “Wholesale and Retail, with good Allowance to those who take a Quantity.”  In other words, he offered a discount to shopkeepers, peddlers, and others who bought in volume.  He placed the notice at the top of the center column on the first page, enhancing its visibility in that issue of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal.  The introduction to the advertisement proclaimed, “Just published,” but that probably was not the case.  Crouch previously inserted the same advertisement as the new year approached.  As was common practice, he likely inserted the notice once again, type already set, without making revisions.

With each passing day, some of the contents became obsolete, including “the Sun and Moon’s Rising and Setting,” “Length of Days and Nights,” and “Judgment of the Weather.”  Other items, however, remained relevant.  Crouch relied on these “useful Particulars” in marketing the almanac.  Its pages contained “Lists of Public Officers; Members of the Commons House of Assembly; [and] Days for holding Courts in South-Carolina and Georgia.”  For those who might have occasion to travel to other colonies by land rather than by ship, the almanac included “Descriptions of the Roads throughout the Continent.”  Throughout their advertising campaigns, printers highlighted the various contents of the almanacs they published and sold.  Each year, the “useful Particulars” beyond what many described as the “usual Astronomical Calculations” (though Crouch did not happen to use that phrase) became increasingly important in marketing almanacs in January, February, and March.

October 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (October 9, 1773).

“FENNING’s much-approved SPELLING-BOOK.”

John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, inserted an advertisement for “FENNING’s much-approved SPELLING-BOOK” in his own newspaper on October 9, 1773.  With news items, editorials, and other advertisements, Carter had so much content that he did not provide much detail in the advertisement except to note that he sold copies “Wholesale and Retail” and set prices “Cheaper by the Dozen than any imported” for those who purchased a quantity.  The printer also advised that Jacob Richardson sold the spelling books in Newport in case some readers of the Providence Gazette might find it more convenient to make their purchases in that town.  Carter kept his advertisement for “WEST’s ALMANACK, For the Year of Our Lord 1774” similarly brief, noting that it “is now in the Press, and will be published seasonably.”

Had Carter inserted a more extensive advertisement, he likely would have generated much of it from the title of the spelling book.  Advertisements for books often quoted the lengthy subtitles common for books published in the eighteenth century.  In this case, Carter could have promoted the spelling book as a “new and easy guide to the English language” and invoked the author’s credentials as a former schoolmaster in Suffolk and author of The Use of Globes, Practical Arithmetic, Royal English Dictionary, and Young Man’s Book of Knowledge.  Both of these books, Fanning’s spelling book and West’s almanac, were so popular and widely known that Carter likely considered it worth announcing that he sold them even if he did not have additional space to promote them in that issue of the Providence Gazette.  After all, he and his predecessors who worked with West to publish an almanac each year undertook extensive advertising.  Carter’s reprint of Fanning’s spelling book was the “fifteenth edition, with additions,” according to the title page.  Prospective customers presumably already knew a lot about both books.

Even though Carter sold Fanning’s spelling book “by the Dozen,” today only one known copy survives in a research library, historical society, or private collection.  That copy, held at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, has been damaged, a portion of its title page missing.  Carter, Richardson, booksellers, schoolmasters, shopkeepers, and peddlers may have distributed that edition of the spelling book widely in Rhode Island and nearby colonies in the early 1770s, but over time and perhaps through use those copies became as ephemeral as many of the broadsides, pamphlets, handbills, and other items produced on printing presses prior to the American Revolution.

September 23

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

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

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly Mercury (September 23, 1773).

“Those who may defer purchasing any of the above GOODS in Expectation of their being put up at Public Auction will be disappointed.”

Ward Nicholas Boylston planned to leave the colonies in the fall of 1773.  Before his departure, he attempted to the liquidate the merchandise at his store on King Street in Boston.  His advertisement in September 23 edition of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter incorporated several strategies to entice customers to purchase his wares.

The notice commenced with a headline: “At first Cost, for Cash only.”  Like an advertisement that Boylston ran in February, a decorative border enclosed the headline to draw attention to it.  The merchant offered the best prices available, even the prices he paid to acquire his inventory.  Earning profits on the goods mattered less than getting them out of his store, but taking advantage of those bargains required paying in cash.  With his departure quickly approaching, Boylston was not in a position to extend credit.  That also explains why the merchant “repeatedly desires all Persons who have any Demands against him to bring in their Accounts & receive their Ballances, & those who are indebted to him to make immediate Payment.”  Boylston did not want any leftovers in his ledgers when he departed.

He also trumpeted that he provided “an Abatement to those who take large Quantities.”  Merchants who planned to wholesale the goods as well as retailers in town and country looking to supplement their inventories would receive discounts for purchasing in volume.  Boylston cautioned that these deals were the best that buyers should anticipate, warning that “[t]hose who may defer purchasing any of the above GOODS in Expectation of their being put up at Public Auction will be disappointed.”  He declared that “what may remain unsold when he leaves the Country … will be disposed of another Way,” but did not give details.  Once again, this advertisement echoed one that Boylston placed in February.  He addressed “[t]hose who have witheld buying hitherto, on a dependence that the above Goods will be finally exposed to Public Sale” and acknowledged that purchasing at auction often resulted in “better Pennyworths” or bargains. That would not be the case in this instance, the merchant promised, because he would dispose of unsold merchandise “otherwise than at Auction.”  The current sale, “The last Chance” promised in the headline, was “the present and last Opportunity” for the best deals possible for purchasing Boylston’s goods.

With only “Fifteen or Twenty Days” remaining before Boylston left town, those who previously did business with him and those who considered doing business with him had a limited time to settle accounts and to buy an “Assortment of English and India Goods … at the neat Sterling Cost, free of any Charges,” from the merchant.  Realizing that some prospective customers might attempt to wait him out in hopes of purchasing his wares at auction for even lower prices than “the first Cost” and discounts for volume that he already offered, Boylston cautioned them, as he had a habit of doing, not to depend on that strategy because he had other plans for disposing of his merchandise.