Dyer

February 19

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (February 19, 1774).

“He has procured an European Dyer.”

Stephen Potter, a clothier in Coventry, Rhode Island, gave the public advance notice about a service he would soon offer.  In an advertisement that first appeared in the February 12, 1774, edition of the Providence Gazette and then continued on February 19 and 26, he advised “his old Customers, and all others” that he “begins colouring the first of March next.”

That expanded the range of services that the fuller provided when he processed woolen cloth “at his Clothier’s Works,” but Potter did not do so on his own.  Instead, he hired an employee (or perhaps acquired an indentured servant) who possessed skills that he did not.  As he explained to prospective customers, Potter “procured an European Dyer” who could “dye any Colour in Cloth or Yarn.”  The clothier highlighted the fact that his new dyer produced “a compleat Green.”

Entrepreneurs did not usually credit others who worked in their shops when they ran advertisements in colonial newspapers, but a few did so when they believed that acknowledging those who labored beside them or on their behalf helped in marketing the goods and services they sold.  In this instance, Potter’s “old Customers,” in particular, “and all others,” in general, likely knew that dying woolen goods was not a skill that he possessed.  As he sought to expand his business, Potter deemed it necessary to credit the “European Dyer” who recently joined “his Clothier’s Works.”

That did not prevent Potter from promoting his own contributions to the business, declaring that he “engages to dress his Work in the neatest Manner.”  Customers could expect the highest quality of both the fulling and the dying of cloth entrusted to Potter.  That Potter offered dying as an ancillary service distinguished his operation from other clothiers in the area.  That included John Waterman, a competitor who simultaneously ran advertisements in the Providence Gazette.

February 27

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

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

Providence Gazette (February 27, 1773).

“Those that please to favour him with their Custom, may have Yarn dyed at Half an Hour’s Notice.”

Nathaniel Jenks provided multiple services to residents of Smithfield, Rhode Island, and nearby towns.  According to an advertisement he placed in the Providence Gazette in February 1773, he “carries on the Wheelwright’s Business, and makes all Kinds of Carriage Wheels.”  He advised prospective customers that they did not need to worry that they might find better bargains in Providence or anywhere else because he made wheels “as cheap as any other of the Business.”  Jenks did not intend to be undersold by the competition.

In addition to working as a wheelwright, Jenks “carries on the Dying Business.”  Advertisers often placed newspaper notices with multiple purposes.  In this case, Jenks promoted more than one means of earning his livelihood.  As he had with the prices for his wheels, he engaged in superlatives about some aspects of dying textiles.  Jenks proclaimed that he “has an European Blue Dye, which he will warrant to dye as good a Colour as any in America.”  That he pursued his craft in a small town, Jenks informed the public, did not mean that he achieved inferior results.  Prospective customers would be just as satisfied with the color of textiles they sent to him as they would be if they sought the same services in Providence or Boston or New York or any other town or city.

Jenks also emphasized convenience for local customers who visited his shop.  He asserted, “Those that please to favour him with their Custom, may have Yarn dyed at Half an Hour’s Notice.”  Prospective customers with other business to do in Smithfield could drop off their undyed yarn, see to their other tasks, and pick up their newly-dyed blue yarn before returning home.  Jenks intended that the combination of quality and convenience would convince colonizers to avail themselves of his services.  At a glance, his advertisement, like so many others in early American newspapers, may look like dense text with little of interest to modern readers, but eighteenth-century readers, accustomed to closely reading those notices, encountered several marketing pitches designed to capture their attention and distinguish Jenks and his services from his competitors.

January 18

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (January 18, 1772).

“He has likewise procured an European Blue-Dyer.”

In January 1772, John Nichols placed an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to remind the community that “he carries on the Weaving Business, as usual,” at his house on Broad Street.  He devoted most of his advertisement, however, to promoting an ancillary service he recently added to his business.  Nichols informed readers that he “procured an European Blue-Dyer, who will warrant his Colours to be equally durable with those from that Country.”  Nichols made that appeal to quality in hopes of convincing prospective customers to support services provided in the colonies rather than resort to imported goods.  When they did so, the weaver suggested, customers would also save money and reap other benefits.  In particular, he pledged that items committed to the care of his dyer would not become saturated with “the (generally detested) Smell of a common Dye-Pot.”  Customers could enjoy vivid colors without having to tolerate the unpleasant odors often associated with dyes.

On behalf of his dyer, Nichols also offered advice to prospective customers to help them achieve and maintain those vivid colors.  “Those who intend bringing Yarn to dye,” he instructed, “are requested to have it well cleaned.”  If they did not, the yarn “will not take the Dye so well.”  This made it easier for the dyer, but it also contributed to the quality that Nichols promised.  Colors had a tendency to fade over time, so producing colors “equally durable” as imported textiles required careful attention of both the dyer and the customers who delivered yarn for processing.

When it came to textiles, Nichols and his dyer offered alternatives to some of the imported good promoted by other advertisers.  Like many others who engaged in domestic manufactures, they attempted to make goods produced in the colonies attractive to consumers by emphasizing both price and quality.  Customers would actually pay less, Nichols declared, without sacrificing quality.  Consumers still clamored for the imported goods that so many other advertisers hawked in the Providence Gazette, but some may have considered seeking out the services of Nichols and his dyer rather than favoring imported goods over items produced locally.