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May 20

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Journal (May 20, 1774).

“GOODS.”

Only six advertisements appeared in the May 20, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy, far fewer than in the previous issue.  The printers, Thomas Green and Samuel Green, made space for the entire text of the Boston Port Act, passed in response to the destruction of tea the previous December.  The act closed and blockaded the busy port until residents paid for the tea dumped into the harbor.  It filled the entire front page and overflowed onto the second, followed by news that Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts, had returned to England with the king’s permission and, in turn, George III appointed “Thomas Gage, Esq; Lieutenant general of his Majesty’s forces, to be Captain-general and Governor in Chief of the said province, and Vice Admiral of the same.”  Other news from England and the rest of Europe completed the page, followed by extensive news from Boston and brief updates from New York, Hartford, and New Haven on the third and fourth pages.  The advertisements in that issue completed the final columns on the last two pages.

Despite the significance of the news on the front page and throughout the rest of the issue, no headlines directed attention to the Boston Port Act, the appointment of Gage, or any of the other coverage.  The sorts of headlines familiar to modern readers usually were not part of eighteenth-century newspapers, no matter how momentous the news they carried. Advertisements, on the other hand, much more frequently made use of short summaries and larger fonts.  Instead of a headline that proclaimed, “BOSTON PORT ACT TO CLOSE HARBOR ON JUNE 1,” running across the page just below the masthead on the first page, the largest font in the May 20 issue appeared in an advertisement.  The introduction for that advertisement had a slightly larger font than the news in the column to the left and throughout the rest of the newspaper.  The names of the merchants, “Morgan & Shipman,” ran in a font approximately twice the size of that for the news.  The word “GOODS,” concluding a description of their “good Assortment of Spring and Summer GOODS,” extended across the column in a font approximately three times the size of any font used for news.  It even rivaled the size of the font in the masthead, drawing eyes to Morgan and Shipman’s advertisement as readers sought news to buttress what they previously heard and read.  The format made the advertisement visually engaging, especially compared to other content.  Printers did not consider the same treatment necessary for news, testifying to a different manner for producing and reading newspapers in early America compared to later periods.

May 19

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Connecticut Courant (May 19, 1772).

“New, New, New GOODS!”

Less is more.  Caleb Bull, Jr., adopted that theory for his advertisement in the May 19, 1772, edition of the Connecticut Courant.  Extending only four lines, the advertisement proclaimed, “New, New, New GOODS! AT CALEB BULL jun’s. Store in HARTFORD.”  He did not include any of the standard appeals to price or quality.  He did not attempt to convince genteel customers that he carried fashionable textiles, garments, and housewares.  He did not provide a list of dozens or scores of items to demonstrate the choices available to consumers.  He did not promise exemplary customer service.  In short, he did not deploy most of the marketing strategies that commonly appeared in newspaper advertisements in the eighteenth century.

That does not necessarily mean, however, that Bull’s advertisements did not catch the attention of prospective customers.  After all, he composed innovative copy with the repetition of “New, New, New” on the first line.  Most advertisers did not incorporate such repetition as a means of engaging readers, though sometimes their lists of merchandise concluded with “&c. &c. &c.”  In repeating the abbreviation for et cetera, they underscored that they had far too many goods to fit into an advertisement.  Bull relied on a similar principle, but he did not reserve the repetition for the end of his notice.  Instead, “New, New, New” served as his primary marketing strategy, signaling to prospective customers that his inventory had not lingered on the shelves.  Bull challenged readers to visit his store to see these “New, New, New GOODS” for themselves.

The typography made his advertisement notable, most of the content in larger fonts than appeared in other advertisements on the same page.  Other notices featured dense paragraphs in smaller fonts.  Readers likely absorbed Bull’s advertisement at a glance, even if they casually skimmed the advertisements, but other notices required greater effort to read.  As a result, “New New, New GOODS” may have been enough to make Bull’s advertisement memorable and effective,

November 21

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (November 19, 1770).

“SCONCES.”

The partnership of Abeel and Byvanck regularly advertised in the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury in 1770.  While it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, the fact that they repeatedly placed new advertisements advising consumers about the merchandise they offered for sale suggests that they considered advertising a good investment.  Like other merchants and shopkeepers, they often listed items currently in stock, though sometimes they instead merely emphasized that shoppers had many choices among a “general Assortment” or “very large ASSORTMENT.”

Most purveyors of consumer goods tended to place a single advertisement to promote all of them.  Such advertisements often attracted attention due to the amount of space they occupied on the page.  Abeel and Byvanck, on the other hand, experimented with placing multiple advertisements in a single issue.  Rather than the length of their notices drawing the eye, instead it was the repetition intended to attract attention.  Abeel and Byvank’s enterprise became more memorable as a result of repeatedly encountering their advertisements.

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (November 19, 1770).

Readers of the November 19, 1770, edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury spotted advertisements placed by Abeel and Byvank on the first and last pages.  An advertisement for ironmongery ran on the first page followed by another for looking glasses on the final page.  In addition to placing multiple advertisements, the partners also relied on headlines in oversized fonts drawing the eyes of prospective customers.  The word “SCONCES” in the notice about looking glasses appeared in a font larger than any other on the page.  Similarly, the word “NAILS” used a font that dwarfed any other on the first page except for the title of the newspaper in the masthead.  In each instance, the large font helped to create white space that further distinguished Abeel and Byvanck’s advertisements from news items and other advertisements on pages that consisted of dense paragraphs of text.

Viewed through twenty-first-century eyes, Abeel and Byvanck’s advertisements do not appear particularly sophisticated.  Considered in the context of eighteenth-century advertising practices, however, their notices possessed elements that made them notable.  Placing multiple advertisements in a single issue helped to establish name recognition, enhancing their reputation as purveyors of goods through repetition.  Savvy choices about font size increased the likelihood that readers would spot their advertisements and take note that Abeel and Byvanck actively participated in the marketplace, especially as it was represented on the printed page.