Jonathan Arnold

March 20

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

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

Providence Gazette (March 20, 1773).

“WANTED immediately, A SCHOOLMASTER.”

Dr. Jonathan Arnold needed an instructor “to take Charge of the School at Whipple Hall, Providence, North End” in March 1773.  Even though he wished to hire a schoolmaster immediately because he had “a large Number of Scholars being now ready to enter” the school, Arnold refused to settle for just anyone who could teach reading, writing, and other subjects.  Instead, any prospective schoolmaster had to be “temperate and exemplary, in Life and Manners,” in addition to possessing “Ability in his Profession.”  In the era of the American Revolution, advertisements seeking schoolmasters as well as those placed by schoolmasters and -mistresses emphasized manners and morals as much as they did classroom instruction.

Arnold underscored that he was serious about screening applicants.  In a nota bene, he declared, “It is expected, that whoever applies will produce sufficient Testimonials of his Qualifications as above, from Persons of undoubted Credit and Character.”  To make the point even more clear, he added, “None but such need apply.”  Arnold demanded references.  The “Testimonials” that they provided had to cover all of a prospective schoolmaster’s qualifications, including his skill and experience in the classroom and his morals and demeanor.  Furthermore, those giving recommendations had to be beyond reproach themselves.

Although Arnold aimed to hire a suitable instructor as quickly as possible, his advertisement had audiences other than prospective candidates for the position.  He indirectly addressed parents and guardians of current and prospective pupils as well as the entire community.  Arnold made clear that he did not entrust any of the children and youth under his charge to just any schoolmaster.  Parents and the general public could depend on him recruiting instructors who were both effective teachers and good role models.  The notice served an immediate purpose, filling an opening at the school, while also fulfilling a secondary purpose of informing the public, especially parents and guardians of the “Scholars,” about the standards maintained at the school.

December 31

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (December 31, 1768).

“Once more!”

In their capacity as the executors of the estate of Joseph Smith of North Providence, Joseph Olney, Jr., and Jonathan Arnold placed an advertisement in the Providence Gazette. In it, they called on creditors to attend a meeting to settle accounts and announced an auction of the deceased’s real estate. The contents of their advertisement did not differ from other estate notices, but the headline set it apart, drawing attention with a proclamation of “Once more!” Eighteenth-century advertisements did not always consist of dense text crowded on the page.

This innovative headline most likely emerged via collaboration between the advertisers and the compositor, perhaps even accidentally. Many eighteenth-century newspaper advertisements did not feature headlines at all. Some treated the advertiser’s name as the headline or otherwise used typography to make it the central focus. The names “Darius Sessions,” “Samuel Black,” and “J. Mathewson” all served as headlines for advertisements, each in italics and a font the same size as “Once more!” In another advertisement, “Gideon Young” appeared in the middle, but in a significantly larger font. Other advertisements used text other than names as headlines. John Carter’s advertisement for an almanac deployed “A NEW EDITION” at the top. A real estate advertisement used “TO BE SOLD” and an advertisement for a runaway slave used “FIVE DOLLARS Reward.” Both were standard formulations when it came to introducing information to newspaper readers.

On the other hand, “Once more!” was different than anything else that usually appeared in the headlines of eighteenth-century newspaper advertisements. Playful and quirky, it was a precursor to the advertisements that regularly appeared in American newspapers in the nineteenth century. Its departure from standard practices for headlines accompanying advertisements in the 1760s suggests that Olney and Arnold did not merely go through the motions of placing an announcement in the public prints. Instead, they devised copy intended to draw more attention than formulaic language would have garnered. The uniqueness of “Once more!” was calculated to arouse curiosity among readers. That it appeared in italics and larger font was most likely a fortunate accident, considering that the compositor gave other headlines the same treatment. (Recall Darius Sessions,” “Samuel Black,” and “J. Mathewson.”) Still, it signaled the possibilities of combining clever copy with unconventional typography, a strategy that subsequent generations of advertisers and compositors would explore much more extensively.