Edward Emerson

July 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (July 8, 1774).

“Molasses, Coffee, Chocolate; & all Sorts of Spices.”

In the summer of 1774, Edward Emerson advertised that he sold a “General Assortment of English and West-India Goods” at his shop “Opposite the Town-House” in York.  At the time, his town, about ten miles northeast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was in that portion of Massachusetts that eventually became Maine in 1820.  When Emerson declared that he set prices “as cheap … as in any County of the Province” in the New-Hampshire Gazette, the local newspaper for York, he left it to readers to decide if he made the comparison to Massachusetts or New Hampshire or both.

Emerson likely considered current events in both colonies important in determining how to present his business in the public prints, making it notable that among the groceries he stocked he listed “Pork and Corn, Rum, Sugar, Molasses, Coffee, Chocolate: & all Sorts of Spices,” but not tea.  Merchants and shopkeepers who advertised coffee and chocolate very often promoted tea at the same time, though many had stopped doing so following the Boston Tea Party in December 1773.  Emerson had been no stranger to selling tea in the past, including “TEA by the dozen or smaller quantity” along with “Coffee, Chocolate, and all sorts of Spices” in February 1771 and “Bohea TEA, and all sorts of GROCERIES” in July 1772.  Yet tea had become a much more problematic commodity in recent months …

… so problematic that that Daniel Fowle, the printer of the New-Hampshire Gazette, devoted the entire front page of the July 8, 1774, edition to reporting on “TWENTY-SEVEN Chests of India TEA … consigned to Mr. Parry” and landed in Portsmouth “before it was in fact generally known that any Tea had arrived in the ship.”  The coverage documented the “peaceable and prudent conduct of the inhabitants of Portsmouth” in the face of this crisis, their actions almost certainly influenced by the repercussions that Boston faced following the destruction of the tea there.  At a town meeting, “a committee of eleven respectable inhabitants, were elected to treat with the consignee, and to deliberate what would be most expedient to be done in a cause of so much difficulty and intricacy.”  They also voted to establish “a watch of twenty-five men … to take care and secure the tea” and prevent disorder and disturbances until the committee could devise a method to remove the tea from Portsmouth.  Just as they sought to avoid destroying the tea, they realized that they could not allow any of it to be sold due to “the dependence state of this town and province upon our sister colonies, even for necessary supplies, which would undoubtedly and justly be denied” should they “suffer the sale and consumption of said Tea.”  Once the tea had been safely sent away, the town meeting voted to create “a committee of Inspection to examine and find out if any Tea is imported here” and another committee to draft a measure “against the importation, use, consumption or sale of all Teas, in this town while the same are subject to a duty.”

Given the circumstances, Emerson made a savvy decision not to market tea in his advertisement in the New-Hampshire Gazette.  Not all merchants and shopkeepers refrained from advertising and selling tea at the time, but many decided to discontinue trading that commodity even before boycotts officially went into effect.

July 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (July 10, 1772).

“His Assortment as full and as cheap, as in the County.”

Many shopkeepers in smaller towns sought to convince prospective customers that they provided shopping experiences that matched what they would find elsewhere.  Such was the case with Edward Emerson when he placed an advertisement in the July 10, 1772, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette.  He informed the public that he carried a “general Assortment of Hard Ware and English Piece GOODS” at his shop in York (then part of Massachusetts, now Maine).  He suggested that he made available as many choices as consumers would encounter in any other shop, but “to mention the Particulars would take too much room in the Paper” (and cost much more for Emerson to publish).  Instead, he assured “his good Customers and others (in Town or out,)” that when they visited his shop they would “find his Assortment as full and as cheap, as in the County.”  The shopkeeper expanded on his appeal emphasizing choice to incorporate price.  Elsewhere in his advertisement he pledged to sell goods “At a very low Rate.”  Customers would not find more choices or better bargains elsewhere.

Parker Emerson made similar claims about his store in Litchfield, New Hampshire, in the same issue of the New-Hampshire Gazette.  He stated that he imported a “large Assortment of English and West India Goods” as well as “NAILS, Window Glass of all sorts; a variety of Glass, Stone, and Delph Ware, and a compleat assortment of London Pewter.”  Repeating words and phrases like “variety,” “of all sorts,” and “compleat assortment” underscored that Emerson provided a range of choices even if he opted not to catalog his merchandise in a newspaper advertisement.  He also informed prospective customers that “he is determined to sell as cheap as any Store or Shopkeeper in the Country.”  In other words, Emerson would not be undersold.  Consumers in Litchfield, York, and other towns had the option of visiting shops in Portsmouth in search of more choices and lower prices, but advertisers like Edward Emerson and Parker Emerson aimed to persuade them that they did not need to do so.  They positioned their merchandise and prices as rivaling those consumers would encounter elsewhere, suggesting that colonizers in the countryside had equal access to the consumer revolution.

February 8

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

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (February 8, 1771).

“Parents and Masters may depend upon being as well used by sending their Children and Servants, as if present themselves.”

Edward Emerson took to the pages of the New-Hampshire Gazette to advertise “ENGLISH and West India GOODS,” tea, coffee, sugar, spices, and tobacco available at his shop “Opposite the Town House in YORK,” a coastal town in the portion of Massachusetts that became Maine half a century later.  In 1771, fewer than thirty newspapers served the colonies that eventually declared independence.  Accordingly, most newspapers operated on a regional scale.  As a result, the New-Hampshire Gazette, printed in Portsmouth, was the local newspaper for Emerson and other residents of York.

Emerson emphasized both price and customer service in his advertisement, proclaiming that he was “determined to sell” his wares “at the lowest Cash price.”  He also anticipated receiving new inventory “which will be Sold as low as possible.”  When it came to customer service, consumers did not need to visit Emerson’s shops themselves.  Instead, they could send representatives, especially children and servants, to do their shopping without concern that Emerson would dismiss them or treat them unfairly.  “Parents and Masters,” the shopkeeper declared, “may depend upon being as well used by sending their Children and Servants, as if present themselves.”  That was a variation on promises that other shopkeepers sometimes made to prospective customers who preferred to place orders via the post.  Shopkeepers often served consumers who lived at a distance, offering assurances in their advertisements that they would be treated as well as if they visited in person.  This presumably applied to receiving both quality merchandise and the best prices.

Few eighteenth-century newspapers advertisements appeared flashy by today’s standards.  Emerson’s advertisement was not even flashy by the standards of the time, but perhaps that was not necessary in order to be effective.  Emerson sought to establish trust with prospective customers.  He offered low prices.  He allowed his clients to choose among a variety of quantities for most of his wares.  He promised to treat both customers and their representatives well rather than taking advantage of them.  If Emerson regularly perused the pages of the New-Hampshire Gazette and other newspapers that circulated in the area, he certainly read advertisements with more sophisticated marketing strategies that he could have adapted for his own business.  Yet he did not.  Perhaps Emerson considered the appeals he did advance sufficient for establishing relationships with consumers seeking trustworthy purveyors of goods.

January 3

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Jan 3 - 1:3:1766 New-Hampshire Gazette
New-Hampshire Gazette (January 3, 1766)

“Who has to Sell all sorts of Grocery’s at the lowest Rates.”

At first glance, this does not appear to be an advertisement for consumer goods and services.  A variety of kinds of notices populated the advertising sections of eighteenth-century newspapers, often seemingly placed haphazardly without concerns for classification or categorization.  An advertisement for goods and services might appear above a legal notice, below an advertisement for a runaway wife, to the left of an announcement about a vessel departing port, and to the right of an advertisement to sell or lease property.  Indeed, printers’ practical concerns about fitting columns on a page or using type previously set for advertisements that previously appeared likely played a more significant role in the layout of advertisements than any deliberate effort to place similar items near each other.  Edward Emerson’s advertisement requires careful reading to discover that he sold “all sorts of Grocery’s at the lowest Rates” at all.

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UPDATE:  Emerson W. Baker notes, via Twitter, that “Edward Emerson lived in York, Maine.  His house is now part of the Museums of Old York.”  He also tweeted this image of the Emerson-Wilcox House.

Emerson-Wilcox House
Emerson-Wilcox House, Museums of Old York