Harpsichord

September 17

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

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

Addition to the South-Carolina Gazette (September 17, 1774).

“MRS. WINDSOR … has declined being connected with Mrs. SAGE, in a Boarding-School.”

In an advertisement that ran in a midweek supplement to the South-Carolina Gazette, Ann Sage announced that she opened a “New Boarding-School, FOR YOUNG LADIES” on September 15, 1774.  The curriculum included “READING, TAMBOUR, EMBROIDERY, and all Kinds of NEEDLE-WORK.”  Sage presumably taught reading and those feminine arts herself.  For an additional price, students could learn “WRITING, ARITHMETIC, DANCING and MUSIC.”  Sage may have provided some of that instruction, but another advertisement suggests that she hired tutors to supplement the lessons she provided.

Immediately below Sage’s notice, Mrs. Windsor declared that she “declined being connected with Mrs. SAGE, in a Boarding-School; which is to be opened on the 15th.”  Dated September 1, Windsor’s advertisement previously appeared separately from Sage’s announcement, including in the September 13 edition of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal.  She did not elaborate on her reasons for not joining Sage’s endeavor, instead advising “her FRIENDS in particular, and the PUBLIC in general” that she “continues, as usual, to instruct Young LADIES upon the HARPSICHORD.”  Windsor requested the “Continuance of the Patronage and Encouragement of her Friends and Acquaintances.”  She had her own enterprise to oversee.

What was Windsor’s purpose in even mentioning Sage’s school in her advertisement?  She could have sought pupils without commenting on her refusal to be affiliated with the boarding school.  Perhaps Sage had attempted to recruit Windsor as a partner in the endeavor rather than merely a tutor who occasionally gave lessons to students who paid additional fees.  In that case, Sage may not have had time to continue offering lessons to her existing clientele.  Her newspaper notice made it clear that she wished to continue those relationships as well as gain new students.  Yet the details she provided (and those she did not) hinted at an untold story, perhaps some interesting gossip, especially when Windsor’s advertisement appeared immediately below Sage’s notice.  The “Friends and Acquaintances” that Windsor thanked for the “Continuance of [their] Patronage and Encouragement” (and other readers as well) otherwise may not have thought anything about Windsor’s other prospects, but her intervention in the public prints could have prompted some to discreetly ask questions here and there to discover if they had missed out on something interesting.

March 26

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update, Guest Contribution , , , , ,

GUEST CURATOR: Sean Duda

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

Supplement to the New-York Journal (March 23, 1769).

“A HARPSICHORD, completely fitted, Maker’s Name (Mahoon, London:).”

This brief advertisement offered a harpsichord for sale. Harpsichords are often referred to as the “predecessor” of the piano. When Romance music started to come about at the beginning of the nineteenth century, everyone started to move over to pianos. This was due to the fact that pianos were more expressive and had more dynamics. This became even more true when Beethoven started working with piano builders in the early nineteenth century to make louder pianos before he went completely deaf. One of the main drawbacks to the harpsichord, that the piano did not have, was that no matter how softly or forcefully a musician pushed down on a key of a harpsichord the volume rang with the same amount of sound at all times.

During the eighteenth century many of the wealthy and elite had a harpsichord in their homes for entertainment. Ed Crews writes that “harpsichords were expensive in Great Britain and its North American colonies. During the 1700s … most harpsichords in America were made in Great Britain. Because of the cost, the instrument was a status symbol. The powerful, the refined, and the wealthy made sure they had one in their homes.” The harpsichord in this advertisement was made in London. Poorer colonists sometimes learn to sing in church or learned to play instruments that were less costly and of lower overall quality compared to the harpsichords owned by their wealthier counterparts.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY: Carl Robert Keyes

Working with undergraduate guest curators sometimes offers a brief respite from examining the featured advertisements in favor of reflecting on pedagogy. All of the guest curators currently working on the Adverts 250 Project are currently enrolled in my upper-lever Revolutionary America, 1763-1815, course at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. As long as they abide by the methodology for the project they may examine whichever advertisements they wish. However, as project manager I reserve the right to review and approve all advertisements included in the project. I encourage guest curators to submit their proposed advertisements for approval before they conduct further research or begin writing about them.

This results in guest curators frequently choosing advertisements that I would not have considered or passing over advertisements that I would like to include in the project. When Sean presented this exceptionally brief advertisement for my consideration I initially attempted to wave him off of it and on to another advertisement. I thought that it might be a difficult choice for someone working as a guest curator for the first time. As an alternative I directed him to an advertisement in the same column of the March 23, 1769, edition of the New-York Journal, a subscription notice for printing “AN HISTORICAL JOURNAL OF THE CAMPAIGNS IN NORTH AMERICA, For the Years 1757, 8, 9, and 60 … By CAPTAIN JOHN KNOX.” We covered the Seven Years War at the beginning of the semester, so I reasoned that Sean could readily make connections between course content and that advertisement.

Sean, however, explained that he had intentionally chosen the advertisement about the harpsichord. As a Music minor, he previously enrolled in a course that examined the history of music. He wanted to draw together material from classes in different disciplines. Once I heard Sean’s explanation I enthusiastically approved the advertisement for the harpsichord. His choice achieved one of my goals for incorporating undergraduate guest curators into the project to fulfill the requirements of my Revolutionary America course: challenging students to consider connections between the material they encounter in my class and what they have learned in other History courses and classes offered by other departments. In addition, Sean demonstrated another point that I make to guest curators when we first discuss the project. The advertisement for the harpsichord was deceptively brief. At the beginning of the semester most of Sean’s peers may have passed over it, questioning its significance. Yet Sean used it to tell a robust story about entertainment, status, and changing technologies in the era of the American Revolution.