What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-Hampshire Gazette (March 12, 1773).
“He will teach Dancing in the politest Manner.”
Monsieur de Viart had competition for pupils at his dancing academy in Portsmouth. The week after Viart commenced a new round of advertising in the New-Hampshire Gazette, Edward Hacket placed his own notice “to acquaint the GENTLEMEN and LADIES” that he would “open a Dancing-School, At the New ASSEMBLY HOUSE” in April. Although dated February 11, that was likely a mistake. Hacket’s advertisement did not appear in the New-Hampshire Gazette until March 12. By then, Viart had taken the lead in advertising for the upcoming quarter in the public prints.
That did not deter Hacket from attempting to convince adults to take lessons from him and parents to enroll their children in his school. For background, he described himself as “From EUROPE,” but did not go into greater detail. He apparently hoped that his origins on the other side of the Atlantic gave him some cachet compared to dancing masters from the colonies … and made him competitive with his French rival, Monsieur de Viart. Hacket did not believe that Viart was entitled to corner the market in Portsmouth. According to his advertisement, neither did “many of the principal Inhabitants of the Town” who requested that he establish his own school even though Viart already operated a dancing academy there. To further burnish his credentials, Hacket declared that he “has taught Dancing in many of the principal Towns in England, Ireland, and America.” That being the case, he taught students how to dance “in the politest manner” and could assist them in learning “perfectly in a short Time,” preparing his pupils “for any Assembly or Company whatsoever.”
Just as participation in the consumer revolution was not restricted to the gentry in the largest colonial cities, neither was adopting the manners and skills associated with gentility. As spring approached in 1773, two dancing masters offered their services in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Each operated schools in that town and also offered private instruction in the homes of their pupils. Hacket indicated that he also gave lessons in Exeter, New Hampshire, and Haverhill and Newbury, Massachusetts. Prospective pupils in town and country alike, the dancing masters suggested, should consider how learning to dance well would secure and enhance their status.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-Hampshire Gazette (March 5, 1773).
“Instruct their Scholars in those Rules of Decorum and Politeness.”
Monsieur de Viart, a dancing master, sought to cultivate a sense of anxiety among prospective clients when he offered his services in an advertisement in the March 5, 1773, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette. In particular, he suggested that parents needed to tend to the best interests of their children by enrolling them in classes taught by an expert who emphasized comportment as well as learning the steps of “Minuets, French Jiggs, Horn-Pipes, Rigadoons, and English Country Dances of all Kinds.” His students, he promised, would exhibit grace in their interactions as well as in their movements.
In making that pitch, Viart asserted that he “has always endeavoured to merit the Approbation of those who have hitherto favoured him with their Custom,” especially parents of his young students, “by having at all Times obliged himself to instruct his PUPIULS in those Principles which he received in that Profession himself.” The dancing master declared that he incorporated “Rules of Decorum and Politeness” into his curriculum, recognizing that dancing was part of much more extensive social interactions. He cautioned parents of prospective pupils that their children needed such lessons, “which are absolutely necessary to be known, begore Young Persons can step abroad into the World with Elegance and Ease.”
Viart claimed that other dancing masters did not focus on the relationship between dancing and manners that he did, leaving their students to clumsily stumble through encounters with others. He lamented that “not every one who pretends to teach this delicate Art … will take the Pains to instruct their Scholars” in manners. As a result, parents had reason to fear that their children might embarrass themselves. “[I]t often happens that Scholars,” Viart confided, “through the Ignorance of the Masters, are guilty of great Rudeness and commit gross Blunders on their first going into Company.” Viart prepared his pupils for much more than moving across the dance floor, helping them avoid various kinds of awkwardness and difficulties when they gathered for social events.
Dancing masters in the largest cities in the colonies – Charleston, New York, Philadelphia – made similar appeals to prospective pupils and their parents. They touted the gentility that their “Scholars” would exhibit upon taking lessons. Viart suggested that this was not merely a concern for colonizers who resided in urban ports. Instead, he encouraged students and, especially, their parents in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to experience a sense of apprehension that they did not meet the standards expected in cosmopolitan society.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Pennsylvania Chronicle (January 16, 1773).
“By limiting the number of his pupils … he has a singular advantage.”
Samuel Blair ran a boarding school for boys in Philadelphia in the early 1770s. In an advertisement in the January 16, 1773, edition of the Pennsylvania Chronicle, the schoolmaster announced that he had openings for two pupils and promoted the benefits of learning in such an exclusive setting. He explained that for the “special benefit” of his students, he limited enrollment to only twelve boys. He advertised “whenever a vacancy occurs,” alerting parents who “choose … to have [their sons] instructed in a private family rather than a public school.”
Blair briefly outlined his curriculum, but devoted most of his advertisement to the virtues of a residential setting for a small number of students. The course of study included “the Latin and Greek Languages, Geography, Arithmetic, and all the most useful practical branches of the Mathematics” as well as “the arts of reading, writing, spelling, and speaking English with elegance and propriety.” His school, he suggested, produced genteel young men.
Their comportment, not just the skills they acquired and the subjects they mastered, made them genteel. Blair asserted that “limiting the number of his pupils” allowed him to “devot[e] himself wholly to the care of their education,” including “constant intercourse and conversations with them as members of his family.” That represented a “singular advantage” for his students compared to the attention they received from other schoolmasters. In addition to “bringing [his pupils] on in these studies and exercises with expedition and accuracy … in such a way as shall render them most easy and agreeable to their young and impatient minds,” Blair declared that he instituted a gentle system of discipline that formed young men of character. In the course of spending time with his students in and beyond the classroom, he took responsibility “for correcting and forming their tempers, for inspecting and regulating their general deportment, and for governing them by the milder and more successful means of argument and persuasion.” The schoolmaster did not deploy harsh methods of correction. Instead, he treated his students as members of an extended family.
Blair did not rely on exclusivity alone to generate interest in his boarding school. To attract interest from the parents of prospective pupils, he described the benefits of that exclusivity. His students not only received an education but also an upbringing that transformed them into genteel young men. When they entrusted their sons to his care, parents could depend on them learning a variety of subjects, both practical and refined, under the watchful eye of a schoolmaster who kept order and instilled good manners without resorting to draconian means. Blair believed that his program presented a “singular advantage” for his students … and aimed to convince parents of prospective pupils that was indeed the case.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-Hampshire Gazette (June 12, 1772).
“Those Accomplishments which are so necessary for entring the World with Advantage.”
Many colonizers sought to demonstrate that they belonged to genteel society through their fashions, possessions, and comportment. They participated in the consumer revolution, purchasing textiles, garments, accessories, and housewares according to the latest tastes in English cities, especially London. They also concentrated on their comportment, putting into practice good manners and learning a variety of genteel skills, including dancing, fencing, speaking French, and playing musical instruments. Merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and tutors aided colonizers in acquiring both the things and the knowledge necessary for displaying their gentility.
This was not solely an urban phenomenon. Far beyond the major port cities of Boston, Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, purveyors of goods advertised their wares and consumers acquired them. Similarly, colonizers in smaller towns had opportunities to take lessons in dancing, fencing, and other genteel pursuits. As summer arrived in 1772, Monsieur Viart placed an advertisement in the New-Hampshire Gazette to inform the public, especially parents, that he taught “DANCING, FENCING, the FRENCH LANGUAGE, and the VIOLIN … in the most perfect and polite manner.” He cautioned parents against overlooking the benefits of enrolling their children in his classes, arguing that his curriculum yielded “those Accomplishments which are so necessary for entring the World with Advantage.” Even colonizers in Portsmouth, Viart declared, needed these skills.
Viart listed the tuition for each kind of lesson, both an initial entrance fee and additional payment for each quarter. He also offered a discount if “a Scholar learns in two Branches,” encouraging pupils and their parents to sign up for more than one subject. He anticipated the most interest in dancing and French, holding “School” for each at set times on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. He may have also provided private tutoring, but he did not mention those lessons in his advertisement. He gave fencing and violin lessons “at such times as may be convenient for his Scholars.”
Tutors like Viart attempted to entice colonizers to become even more immersed in the consumer revolution and the culture of gentility and cosmopolitanism often associated with it. He expected that his pronouncement that learning to dance or speak French was “so necessary” in preparing children to successfully make their way in the world that it would resonate with parents and other readers in Portsmouth and nearby towns. Such skills, he suggested, were not reserved for the gentry in New York and Philadelphia.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (October 22, 1770).
“All Sorts of Gold, Silver, and Silk.”
Barnaby Andrews, an “IMBROIDERER,” placed a notice in the October 22, 1770, edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury to advertise his many services. He described four different branches of his business to attract prospective customers. Andrews commenced with the most obvious, proclaiming that he “MAKES all Sorts of Gold, Silver, and Silk for Men and Womens Ware” as well as “Pulpit Cloths, Tassels and Fringes.” As a related service, he informed the public that he “cleans all Sorts of Gold and Silver Lace.” These were the types of work expected of embroiderers.
Yet Andrews provided two other services beyond making and maintaining embroidery. He offered to impart his skills to “Any Lady” who wished to take lessons. When it came to leisure activities and household production, after all, embroidery was predominantly a feminine pastime. Prospective pupils had two option when it came to the location for their lessons. They could choose to have Andrews visit them at home, certainly a convenience, but they could also opt for the embroiderer’s lodgings on Broad Street. Either way, the advertisement suggested that they would receive more personalized attention from Andrews than they would from schoolmistresses who included sewing and simple embroidery in their curriculum for girls and young women.
In addition to embroidery, Andrews also made “all Sort of Paper Work” and “Hat, Patch and Bonnet Boxes” for storing some of the items that women used to adorn their faces and heads. Madeline Siefke Estill explains that patch boxes were “indices of gentility” similar to snuff boxes and tobacco boxes. Patches were made from “a wide range of materials – black silk, velvet, paper, or red leather – and cut into a variety of shapes and sizes” to be “applied to the face or bosom with mastic.” Patches served several purposed, including lending “an impression of formal distinction and enhanc[ing] one’s beauty and desirability.” While patches could be used to disguise blemishes, women also wore them to “appear younger and more fashionable.” Andrews asserted that he made his boxes “in the neatest and best Fashion,” suitable accouterments for genteel women to collect, display, or even give as gifts.
Andrews aimed his advertisement primarily at the local gentry, those who had the means to acquire silks and lace as well as the leisure time to learn embroidery as a diversion. Like many other artisans, he provided the means for his clients to perform gentility though he could not claim admission to the ranks of the genteel himself.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-Hampshire Gazette (September 7, 1770).
“MANTU-MAKER, FROM BOSTON.”
Over the past few days the Adverts 250 Project has examined the manner in which purveyors of goods and services in the colonies incorporated their origins into their advertisements as part of their marketing campaigns. We began with James Yeoman, a clock- and watchmaker “FROM LONDON,” who sought to convince readers of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury that his skills eclipsed those of competitors who had not trained or worked in the largest city in the empire. Next we looked at George Lafong, a “French HAIR-DRESSER,” who informed the ladies and gentlemen of Williamsburg, Virginia, that he styled hair “in the cheapest manner, & TOUT A LA MODE” (all in fashion). Injecting a few words of French into his advertisement in William Rind’s Virginia Gazette underscored the gentility and cachet associated with hiring a hairdresser from France.
Today we consider the advertisement that Lucy Fessenden inserted into the September 7, 1770, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette. She introduced herself as a mantuamaker “FROM BOSTON,” asserting that she pursued her craft “in the newest and most genteel Mode.” While Yeoman and Lafong’s advertisements testified to migration across the Atlantic, Fessenden’s notice indicated migration within the colonies. In both instances, advertisers sought to use their origins to their advantage. Artisans as well as tailors, milliners, and others in the garments trade, including mantuamakers like Fessenden, frequently noted that they formerly lived and worked in some of the largest port cities when they relocated to smaller towns and advertised their services. Perceptions of skill and associations with gentility seemed to operate on a sliding scale. Residents of Boston, Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia looked to London and other places on the far side of the Atlantic as models. Residents of smaller towns did as well, but they also recognized the major ports in the colonies as locations that merited notice. Unable to make a direct connection to London, Fessenden instead leveraged her time in Boston to suggest her familiarity with “the newest and most genteel Mode” and her ability to deliver on it “with Fidelity and Dispatch.”
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Virginia Gazette [Rind] (September 6, 1770).“TOUT A LA MODE.”
George Lafong introduced himself to the ladies and gentlemen of Williamsburg as a “French HAIR-DRESSER” in an advertisement in the September 6, 1770, edition of William Rind’s Virginia Gazette. Apparently, he was new in town and had not yet established a clientele; he announced that he “intends carrying on the said business.” He also made two familiar marketing appeals, though he put a twist on the second one when he proclaimed that he styled hair “in the cheapest manner, & TOUT A LA MODE.” The hairdresser concluded by inviting “Gentlemen who may please to honour him with their commands” to come to him for shaving.
Extending only eight lines, it was a brief advertisement, but Lafong managed to pack a lot of meaning into it. Throughout the colonies, newcomers often noted their origins in their advertisements, especially when they thought this signaled greater prestige for their wares or services. Artisans often described themselves as “from London,” suggesting that they possessed greater skill and had better training. Apothecaries and others who provided medical treatments and services also emphasized their connections to London and other places on the other side of the Atlantic, often listing their credentials. For hairdressers, being from London hinted at the cosmopolitanism associated with the thriving metropolis at the center of the empire, but being a “French HAIR-DRESSER” may have been even better since even the genteel denizens of London looked to France for fashion cues. Hiring a French hairdresser in colonial Virginia could have been an expensive luxury reserved for the elite, but Lafong declared that his prices were not exorbitant. His clients could have their hair elegantly styled and adorned “in the cheapest manner.” Hiring a French hairdresser at all alluded to exclusivity, but the newcomer did not seek to become so exclusive that he priced himself out of the market. He also put his own spin on familiar marketing appeals that emphasized fashion. Shopkeepers, tailors, milliners, and others who provided consumer goods and services frequently incorporated fashion into their advertisements. Lafong did so as well, trumpeting that he styled hair “TOUT A LA MODE” or “all in fashion.” This appeal simultaneously underscored his identity as a French hairdresser and enhanced the aura of exclusivity for prospective clients who learned French to appear more genteel to their friends and neighbors.
Upon arriving in Virginia, Lafong placed a savvy advertisement intended to cultivate a clientele among the “Ladies and Gentlemen” of Williamsburg. Incorporating several familiar marketing appeals, he also introduced an innovative means of underscoring his origins as a “French HAIR-DRESSER” by making his appeal to fashion in French rather than English.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Providence Gazette (June 16, 1770).
“They may depend on having their Commands executed after the newest and most genteel Fashions.”
When Daniel Stillwell, a tailor, placed an advertisement in the June 16, 1770, edition of the Providence Gazette, he made one of the most common and important appeals deployed by colonists who followed his trade. He pledged that clients “may depend on having their Commands executed after the newest and most genteel Fashions.” Tailors and others in the garment trades often made appeals to price, quality, and fashion in their advertisements. Stillwell, like other tailors, believed that price and quality might not have mattered much to those who wished for their clothing to communicate their gentility if their garments, trimmings, and accessories did not actually achieve the desired purpose. Reasonable prices and good quality were no substitute for making the right impression. Stillwell’s work as a tailor required a special kind of expertise beyond measuring, cutting, and sewing. He had to be a keen observer of changing tastes and trends so he could deliver “the newest and most genteel Fashions” to his clients.
To that end, Stillwell informed prospective customers that he “has had great Opportunities of seeing the different Methods of working.” Although he did not elaborate on those experiences, this statement suggested to readers that Stillwell refused to become stagnant in his trade. Rather than learning one method or technique and then relying on it exclusively, he consulted with other tailors and then incorporated new and different techniques, further enhancing his skill. In so doing, he joined the many artisans who asserted that their skill and experience prepared them to “give Satisfaction” to those who employed them or purchased the wares they produced. Stillwell was no novice; instead, he “carries on his Business in all its Branches,” proficiently doing so because of the care he had taken in “seeing the different Methods of working.” Simply observing current fashions was not sufficient for someone in his trade who was unable to replicate them. Stillwell sought to assure prospective clients that he possessed two kinds of knowledge necessary for serving them, a discerning knowledge of the latest styles and a thorough knowledge of the methods of his trade that would allow him to outfit customers accordingly.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
New-Hampshire Gazette (April 28, 1769).
“A SCHOOL for teaching young MASTERS and MISSES, DANCING and GOOD MANNERS.”
Peter Curtis took out an advertisement in the April 28, 1769, edition of the New Hampshire Gazette to advertise his dance school. This advertisement is particularly interesting because it demonstrates one of the ways that people found entertainment in the eighteenth century. The lives of colonists during the revolutionary era were not focused only on work and survival. The services that Peter Curtis offered might have been a great way for people to take a break and learn how to dance. The profession of dance master could be quite rewarding because, according to an online exhibition from the American Antiquarian Society, these dances were difficult to master and would require many classes. However, having the time and money to attend a dance class would have been a luxury that mostly the middling sort and elites would have been able to take advantage of. In another part of this advertisement that is interesting Curtis states that he will also teach good manners. This would be a must for elites who wanted their children to learn the proper way to behave themselves when in the company of other affluent members of society. A common way that people asserted their affluence was through consumer culture, but being able to dance and have well-mannered children also accomplished the same goal.
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY: Carl Robert Keyes
In this advertisement Peter Curtis announced that he “has again opened a SCHOOL for teaching young MASTERS and MISSES, DANCING and GOOD MANNERS.” In declaring that he had “again opened a SCHOOL,” he assumed that readers and prospective clients were already aware of his previous endeavors as a dancing master. The brevity of his advertisement, especially compared to another he previously inserted in the New-Hampshire Gazette, suggests that was indeed the case. For instance, Curtis did not even state his location; he instead expected that others knew where to find his dancing school. In an advertisement that ran almost two years earlier, however, when Curtis launched that enterprise, he informed residents of Portsmouth that “he proposes to open a DANCING SCHOOL, at the House where the late Mr. David Horney kept a Tavern, and opposite Mr. John Stavers.” Over the course of a couple of years, his school became so familiar that Curtis no longer considered it necessary to give directions.
The dancing master himself had also become familiar in the community, so much so that he no longer underscored one of his most important credentials. When he first opened his school he introduced himself in the public prints as “Peter Curtis, From PARIS.” After outlining his services, he noted that he “has resided fifteen Years in France; he will teach them in the most polite and genteel Manner.” In so doing, he linked the experience he gained living and working in France with gentility and proper comportment. He encouraged prospective clients to desire the additional cachet of employing a dancing master with connections to Paris, at least when he first marketed his services in a community as yet unfamiliar with him. Over time, however, he apparently decided that he had established such a reputation in Portsmouth that he no longer needed to explicitly attach himself to the cosmopolitan French center of fashion and manners.
That Curtis once again advertised in the New-Hampshire Gazette suggests that he experiences some success in Portsmouth and its environs. Dancing masters were notorious for being itinerant in eighteenth-century America. Curtis apparently attracted enough clients and cultivated sufficient demand that he planned to remain in the relatively small port for another season rather than seek his fortune in New York or Philadelphia or any of the larger cities in the colonies. Even beyond urban centers, genteel colonists (and those who aspired to gentility) considered dancing and the manners associated with the pastime an important signifier of their status.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Newport Mercury (September 26, 1768).
“A Dancing-School is not for Diversion or Exercise only, but is designed to reform their Manners and Behaviour.”
When fall arrived in 1768, Mary Cowley placed an advertisement in the Newport Mercury to announce that she planned to “open School for the Season” on the last Wednesday in September. Advertisements for itinerant dancing masters and their schools frequently appeared in colonial newspapers, but Cowley’s notice differed in at least three significant ways. First, she was a female dancing instructor who promoted her lessons in the public prints in an era when her male counterparts dominated that occupation. Second, her advertisements spanned nearly a quarter century, unlike dancing masters who frequently moved from one town to another in search of new clients after only a couple of years. She advertised her dancing school in the Newport Mercury as early as December 1763 and as late as November 1786, though her notices that appeared during the war indicated that she operated a coffeehouse and might have taken a hiatus from giving lessons. Third, most of her advertisements were significantly longer than those placed by dancing masters. Perhaps as a woman in an occupation usually associated with men she considered it necessary to make it clear that nothing sordid occurred during her lessons.
To that end, Cowley maintained her “usual good Orders” during lessons that occurred at dancing assemblies. Her advertisements set forth a series of rules that those in attendance were expected to follow. For instance, students had to purchase tickets in advance. No one could enter without a ticket, allowing Cowley to monitor and control who attended. She informed those who arrived late “not to interrupt the Company, but wait until the next Dance is call’d.” Cowley also expressed her “hope that Gentlemen & Ladies of a Superior Rank & Age, will cheerfully condescend to conform to the Rules and Orders, that those of the younger Sot may profit by their Example.” She made it clear that her purpose and methods focused on more than just learning the right steps. Cowley offered an education in genteel comportment.
She said so quite bluntly, perhaps at the risk of losing some prospective pupils. “As I know many think the Intent of a Dancing-School is only Diversion, and are highly offended if they are reprimanded for any Rudeness of Indecency,” Cowley declared, “I would inform them such, that in my Business I have no Respect to such Persons, and shall never be afraid to remind them, That a Dancing School is not for Diversion or Exercise only, but is designed to reform their Manner and Behaviour.” This may have alienated some potential students, but Cowley did not seem particularly worried about that. She had addressed her advertisement to “the Gentlemen and Ladies who belong to my School, and all others of Distinction and Character.” This was a recurring theme in her notices. In an advertisement from December 19, 1763, Cowley stated that she was “absolutely determined, that no Lady who is not accompanied with a good Character, shall have any Admittance. Likewise, no Gentleman or Lady, who exceeds the Bounds of Decency or good Manners in one Point, or who will not be submissive to the Orders and Rules of the School, shall be countenanced here, on any Consideration.” In the October 28, 1765, edition of the Newport Mercury she had indignantly asserted, “This is not the first Time I have been obliged publicly to forbid several Ladies (who, for once more, shall be nameless) of coming to my School, who can have no Pretence, either by Acquaintance, Behaviour, Family, Fortune, or Character, to any Share of this genteel Amusement.” Such “unwelcome Guests” could “depend upon being affronted in the most public Manner” if they “presume to take those Liberties again.” After all, Cowley’s dancing school was “a chosen Place of Resort only for Gentlemen and Ladies of Family and Character.” There were some clients Cowley was not disappointed to lose.
Dancing masters often made references to their reputation and good character in their advertisements. Just a few weeks before Cowley placed her advertisement in the Newport Mercury, Peter Vianey placed a notice in the New-York Journal to address rumors that he was the same dancing master “whose Behaviour to his Scholars gave just Offence in this City some Years ago.” Even though she had the advantage of residing in Newport for several years, Cowley still defended her own reputation in her newspaper advertisements. She listed the rules to preemptively address inappropriate behavior and tamp down gossip. As a woman who ran a dancing school she exerted great effort in eliminating suspicions that her establishment was more akin to a brothel than a dancing assembly. She offered “Diversion,” but only the sort that conformed to genteel “Manners and Behaviour.”
