Largest Selection

January 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (January 11, 1774).

“Their assortment is as compleat as most in the province.”

In an advertisement in the January 11, 1774, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal, George Cooke and Company informed prospective customers that they recently imported a “fresh SUPPLY of GOODS” from London on the Portland.  Their merchandise included “very fashionable brocades” and other textiles, “men and boys fine beaver hats,” “womens black and coloured satin hats,” “all sorts of gloves and mitts,” “hosiery of all kinds,” and “a great variety of other goods.”

Cooke and Company competed in Charleston’s bustling marketplace.  John Webb advertised a similar inventory, as did Z. Kingsley and Samuel Gordon.  Other merchants and shopkeepers placed advertisements in the city’s other newspapers, the South-Carolina Gazette and the South-Carolina and American General Gazette.  Many did not advertise in the public prints, relying instead on other means of attracting customers to their stores and shops.  Consumers had many choices for acquiring goods in the busy port.

Realizing that was the case, Cooke and Company strove to convince readers that they offered a selection as extensive as those they would find just about anywhere else in Charleston or the rest of the colony.  The items they just received from the Portland supplemented previous shipments.  Those “several late importations from London and Bristol” made their assortment of goods “as compleat as most in the province.”  Customers did not need to go from shop to shop, looking for wares that appealed to them, when Cooke and Company stocked just about anything they could imagine.

Webb, Kingsley, and Gordon all demonstrated some of the choices they offered to consumers by listing dozens of items in their advertisements, each of them indicating that they carried much more than they could include in newspaper advertisements, yet Cooke and Company alone in that issue of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal provided assurances that few if any of their competitors surpassed the selection at their shop.  Whether or not that swayed any prospective customers, Cooke and Company attempted to give their enterprise an advantage over the marketing undertaken by other merchants and shopkeepers.

February 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette (February 4, 1773).

“As complete Assortment as any ever imported into this Province.”

Consumers would not find a larger selection of merchandise anywhere else in the colony.  That was the promise made by Edwards, Fisher, and Company in an advertisement in the February 4, 1773, edition of the South-Carolina Gazette.  The partners reported that they “just imported” a variety of wares in the Fair American from Liverpool as well as “the late Vessels from LONDON,” achieving “as complete [an] Assortment as any ever imported into this Province.”  To demonstrate the point, Edwards, Fisher, and Company deployed dual deadlines, each in larger font than the rest of the advertisement, declaring that they stocked “A VERY LARGE AND COMPLETE ASSORTMENT of GOODS, Suitable for the present Season” and “A LARGE ASSORTMENT OF Ironmongery, Cutlery, Tin-Ware, &c.”  That abbreviation for et cetera alerted readers to even more items.

Lists of goods, short catalogs, followed each of the headlines.  Among the merchandise “Suitable for the present Season,” the merchants carried a “large Quantity of Ladies Calamanco Shoes and Pumps,” “Fashionable Beaver Hatts,” “Mens, Womens, Boys, and Girls Worsted Hose,” “Fashionable Broad Cloths,” a “large Quantity of exceeding good white Plains,” and a variety of other textiles in many different colors and patterns.  Their selection of ironmongery, cutlery, and housewares included everything from “Very neat Parrot Cages” to “Complete Setts of Table China” to “long and short Pipes.”  In some instances, the merchants referred to the packaging materials to suggest the volume of dishes and other ceramics they imported, such as “Crates of yellow Ware” and “Hogsheads [or large barrels] of assorted Delf Ware.”  They offered a tantalizing description of a “large Quantity of Queens Ware,” proclaiming that it included “one Sett of Desert, exceeding elegant, and is the First of the Kind ever imported into this Province.”  Their merchandise was not merely more of the same kinds of items that shoppers could find in other stores and warehouses in Charleston.

Edwards, Fisher, and Company did not publish the longest advertisement for imported consumer goods in that edition of the South-Carolina Gazette.  Others, including John Wilson and a merchant who went by Wakefield, inserted announcements as long or longer.  Wakefield divided his notice into even more categories, while Wilson listed hundreds of items available at his store.  Yet Edwards, Fisher, and Company made a bid for offering the largest selection in their efforts to draw prospective customers to their shop to browse and buy.

January 12

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (January 12, 1773).

“Their Customers may depend on being as well supplied by them as they could be by any House in this Province.”

Atkins and Weston informed readers of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal that they carried a “great Variety of GOODS” imported from Glasgow as well as “GOODS from BRISTOL” and “two large Cargoes of Goods” from London.  Their inventory included a “large Supply of SILKS,” a “great Assortment of LINENS of all Sorts,” a “great Variety of flowered, striped, and plain MUSLINS,” a “large Supply of the most fashionable RIBBONS and VELVET COLLARS,” and a “good Assortment of well-chosen BED FURNITURE.”  Throughout their advertisement, Atkins and Weston underscored the array of choices that they made available to consumers.

To make sure that prospective customers did not overlook that fact, the merchants added a note that explained no other shop, store, or warehouse in the colony had a larger selection of merchandise than they did.  “Their late Importations have been very large, and their Assortments general,” Atkins and Weston asserted, adding that “they buy their Goods on the best Terms, and design constantly to keep up a large Stock.”  As a result, “their Customers may depend on being as well supplied by them as they could be by any House in this Province.”  Colonizers might browse elsewhere, but they would not encounter more choices anywhere else.

Other advertisers made similar pronouncements.  Hawkins, Petrie, and Company, for instance, declared that they “keep one of the largest assortments [of goods] in the province.”  Even entrepreneurs located in towns beyond Charleston highlighted the choices they offered and made provisions for keeping local customers supplied with the wares they wanted and needed.  John Tunno and Company in Jacksonburgh promoted a “complete assortment of GOODS” and listed a variety of items in their advertisement.  They pledged that “Should they be out of any article, they will always send to town for it by the first boat, without any extra charge to their friend here.”  Tunno and Company did not explicitly acknowledge that their inventory might not be as extensive as the shops in Charleston, though they presented a workaround in an effort to convince prospective customers that shopping with them would be just as fulfilling as if they were in the bustling urban port.

Advertisers regularly emphasized consumer choice in their newspaper advertisements during the era of the American Revolution.  Many did so by publishing long lists of merchandise.  Some, like Atkins and Westin, Hawkins, Petrie and Company, and Tunno and Company, added other appeals in their efforts to attract customers.  They declared that their inventory rivaled others in the colony or promised that they could quickly acquire whatever merchandise their patrons requested.

October 18

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

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

Massachusetts Spy (October 15, 1772).

“The least favours gratefully acknowledged.”

John Langdon deployed a variety of strategies for marketing his inventory at the “New Book-Store” in Boston in the fall of 1772.  Like many other retailers, he emphasized the choices that he provided for consumers.  In an advertisement in the October 15 edition of the Massachusetts Spy, the bookseller informed prospective customers that he recently imported a “LARGE and Grand Assortment of BOOKS in all Arts and Sciences.”  Those new titles supplemented those he already had in stock.  He confidently proclaimed that he now offered “as large a collection as is to be found at any Store in America.”  His selection supposedly rivaled what consumers would encounter in shops in urban ports like Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia as well as in the shops operated by local competitors.  Langdon intended for that bold claim to double as an invitation for prospective customers to browse in his shop and discover titles of interest among his extensive inventory for themselves.

In addition, thew bookseller made appeals to price and customer service.  He explained that he planned to depart for England in the spring.  As a result, he wished to sell his inventory over the course of the next several months.  To do so, he set low prices.  Langdon pledged that “every Gentleman who may please to favour him with their custom may depend on purchasing at a little more than the sterling cost and charges.”  In other words, he did not mark up the prices exorbitantly but instead sought to make only a small profit on each book he sold.  Langdon concluded his advertisement with a note that the “least favours [are] gratefully acknowledged.”  He appreciated any business, no matter how large or small the transaction.  Even though he had such a large inventory, no purchase … and no customer … was insignificant. Langdon intended to cultivate relationships with everyone who entered his shop.

Langdon’s advertisement for the New Book-Store was no mere announcement that he sold books.  Instead, he crafted a notice that incorporated multiple marketing strategies.  He emphasized the size of his inventory, his motivation for setting low prices, and the importance of every customer in his effort to encourage consumers to acquire books from him.

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.