Leisure Activities

May 1

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

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

Maryland Journal (May 1, 1776).

“The Continental Spring Garden, nigh Baltimore town.”

Adam Lindsay, a fencing master in Baltimore, advertised lessons in the “Art of Defence (now so necessary for every Gentleman” in the May 1, 1776, edition of the Maryland Journal, yet that was not the primary purpose of his notice.  Instead, he informed readers that he “NOW lives at the Continental Spring Garden” near the town and “proposes to entertain LADIES and GENTLEMENT, who may think proper to view his Garden and refresh themselves, after a pleasing walk.”  That sort of activity was part of what Vaughn Scribner has described as “a news sort of commercial leisure sector” that developed in the colonies during the second half of the eighteenth century.[1]  Lindsay described his Continental Spring Garden as “large and genteelly laid out.”  Furthermore, he believed that “those who choose to recreate themselves with a view thereof, will not be displeased with their entertainment.”  An excursion to the Continental Spring Garden may have included light refreshments in a comfortable parlor since Lindsay invited guests to “his House and Garden.”

Scribner notes that the “fascination with commercial pleasure gardens coincided with Enlightenment notions of health, exercise, and natural romanticism,” some of the factors that contributed to the popularity of baths, spas, and mineral waters like the “COLD BATH” advertised in the Pennsylvania Evening Post the day before Lindsay’s notice ran in the Maryland Journal.[2]  He documents the founding and operation of pleasure gardens in or near the largest urban ports – Boston, Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia – as well as Baltimore and Providence.  The Adverts 250 Project has featured advertisements for some of those sites, including Ranelagh Garden and Vauxhall Garden (both named after famous attractions in London) in New York.  At the time that Lindsay established the Continental Spring Garden and advertised it, Baltimore was growing and becoming a more important port.  It was becoming a rival to Annapolis and would eventually overshadow the colonial capitol.  Just three years earlier, William Goddard commenced publication of the city’s first newspaper, the Maryland Journal.  The city quickly became a more significant center for commerce, prompting John Dunlap to introduce a second newspaper in 1775, which meant that Baltimore now had more newspapers than the sole Maryland Gazette published in Annapolis.  With such growth, Lindasy joined in an effort, as Scribner puts it, “to harness the verdant nature of their surroundings to make their cities more urbane, and healthy, spaces.”[3]  The Continental Spring Garden was part of a larger project undertaken in and near major ports along the Atlantic coast.

**********

[1] Vaughn Scribner, “The World of Nature,” in A Cultural History of Leisure in the Enlightenment, ed. Peter Borsay and Jan Hein Furnee (London: Bloomsbury Press, 2024), 183.

[2] Scribner, “World of Nature,” 184.

[3] Scribner, “World of Nature,” 183.

April 30

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

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (April 30, 1776).

“Apply for tickets … at a Pistole each, or one Shilling each time bathing.”

With the arrival of spring in 1776, Joseph Jewell opened the “COLD BATH, AT Bathtown, in Second-street, about a quarter of a mile from the Barracks in the Northern liberties” on the outskirts of Philadelphia.  Readers sometimes encountered promotions for spas, baths, and mineral springs as they perused newspapers in the decade before the Revolutionary War, including the “Cold-Bath at Jackson’s Mineral Well” in Boston and a “NEW and CONVENIENT BATH” in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.  The New-York Chronicle carried an advertisement for the “Chalybeat Springs, in the Borough of Bristol, in Pennsylvania.”  The facility “answers the Description of the celebrated GERMAN SPAW.”  In addition to the bath and mineral spring at Perth Amboy, residents of Philadelphia who read local newspapers encountered invitations to partake of “ABINGTON MINERAL WATER” when they visited the “most healthy Part of the Province of Pennsylvania.”  The “COLD BATH, AT Bathtown,” however, was a more convenient location that offered greater access to those who wished to purchase admission.

In an advertisement in the April 30, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post, Jewell announced that the facility was “now in the possession of the subscriber,” indicating a transfer of ownership since the previous season.  William Drewet Smith, an apothecary, previously operated the bath.  Regardless of who ran it, the “COLD BATH” was “in complete order, and fit for immediate use.”  Jewell instructed “[l]adies and gentlemen who are inclined to make use of it for the season” to acquire tickets directly from him or “at the bar of the London Coffee-house,” a popular place for socializing and conducting business in the bustling urban port.  Just as advertisers frequently enlisted printers in supplying additional information to readers who followed directions to “enquire of the printer,” some also made arrangements for the proprietor of the coffeehouse to act as their agent.  Such convenience likely increased sales.  Jewell charged the same amount for a season pass, “a Pistole each,” as Smith had the previous year, but he also allowed for day passes at “one Shilling each time bathing.”  Smith may have done so as well, though he did not promote it as an option in his advertisement.  Jewell may have hoped that highlighting a less expensive option would stimulate greater demand and more visitors to the “COLD BATH.”

April 15

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

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

Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet (April 15, 1776).

“The patient fisher takes his silent stand, / Intent, his angle trembling in his hand.”

Edward Pole was no stranger to advertising.  He experimented with a variety of marketing strategies over the years.  Pole started out operating a “GROCERY STORE” in Philadelphia, but he also sold “FISHING TACKLE Of all sorts, for use of either sea or river.”  His advertisement in the Pennsylvania Chronicle in August 1772 gave nearly as much space to fishing tackle as to groceries.  In May 1774, he began adorning his advertisements in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet with a woodcut depicting a fish, drawing attention to the portion of his notice that promoted fishing tackle.  In January 1775, Pole delivered the woodcut to the printing office of the Pennsylvania Ledger to accompany his advertisements in that newspaper.  In April 1776, the familiar image appeared in an advertisement in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet once again.  This time, however, Pole did not mention groceries.  Instead, he devoted his entire advertisement to “FISHING TACKLE” and firearms.  Pole must have found that he could make a living by specializing in sporting goods.  In the 1780s, he distributed ornate trade cards that listed his occupation as “FISHING-TACKLE-MAKER.”

Even though Pole included his woodcut depicting a fish in his advertisement in the April 15, 1776, edition of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, it did not appear first.  Visual images usually appeared at the top of newspaper advertisements, but Pole instead chose to open his notice with several lines of poetry from Alexander Pope’s “Windsor-Forest” (1713).

IN genial Spring, beneath the quiv’ring shade,
Where cooling vapours breathe along the mead,
The patient fisher takes his silent stand,
Intent, his angle trembling in his hand;
With looks unmov’d, he hopes the scaly breed,
And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed.
Our plenteous streams a various race suppy:
The bright ey’d PEARCH, with fins of TYRIAN dye;
The silver EEL, in shing volumes roll’d;
The yellow CARP, in scales bedrop’d with gold;
Swift TROUTS, diversify’d with crimson stains,
And PIKE, the tyrants of wat’ry plains.  POPE.

As spring arrived and some consumers contemplated spending leisure time fishing, Pole deployed the poem to invite them to imagine themselves spending time outside, next to a river.  To make the most of that time, they could treat themselves to new fishing equipment, including a “dancing cork” (or bobber) and a “bending reed” (or pole).  Pole was prepared to supply “Gentlemen going on parties in the FISHING way, either to the river, capes, or Black Point,” with “the best kind of FISHING TACKLE suitable for those places.”  Via the lines from “Windsore-Forest,” he prompted them to envision the different fish they might catch or simply the pleasure they would derive from their pastime and the company they would keep, whether their own quiet contemplation or fellowship with other members of their party.  Including the poem increased the length of his advertisement and thus the cost of running of it, but Pole apparently considered it worth the investment to engage prospective customers and make his marketing more memorable.

April 1

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

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

Pennsylvania Evening Post (April 1, 1775).

“The COLD BATH, At BATH TOWN.”

William Drewet Smith, a “Chemist and Druggist,” diversified his business interests in the spring of 1775.  He operated a shop “At HIPPOCRATES’s HEAD” on Second Street Philadelphia, selling a “general Assortment of Druggs and patent medicines, surgeons instruments, [and] shop furniture.”  In an advertisement in the March 25 edition of the Pennsylvania Ledger, he promoted one of those patent medicines, “Baron SCHOMBERG’s Grand Prophylactic LIMIMENT” to prevent venereal diseases and treat the symptoms of those who did not practice prevention soon enough.  In that same issue, he inserted a second advertisement, that one hawking “Baron Van Haake’s royal letters pattent composition, for manuring land” to farmers and gardeners.

A week later, Smith ran yet another notice to announce that he was now the proprietor of the “COLD BATH, At BATH TOWN.”  The facility, he reported, “is completely fitted up, with every Conveniency, and ready for immediate Use.”  Those seeking entry needed to buy tickets (“without which no Person can be admitted”).  The apothecary sold them for “a Pistole each” at his “MEDICINAL STORE.”  Those who intended to travel to Bath, about sixty-five miles north of Philadelphia, could obtain their tickets before making the trip.  Rather than a single admission, each ticket entitled the bearer “to the use of the Bath [throughout] the Summer Season,” but they had to pay the entire balance “at the Time of subscribing.”  Smith did not allow guests to avail themselves of the amenities at his spa on credit.

Advertising in both the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the Pennsylvania Ledger, Smith joined the ranks of eighteenth-century entrepreneurs who marketed health tourism in America.  The apothecary probably figured that it made sense to branch out in that direction.  When clients visited his shop in Philadelphia, especially clients of means who had the leisure to travel, he could recommend the rejuvenating waters at the “COLD BATH” and the benefits of being away from the bustling urban port to supplement the medicines that he supplied.  He likely believed that his reputation and experience as a “Chemist and Druggist” made him a trustworthy provider of other health services in the eyes of the public.

March 17

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

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

Pennsylvania Journal (March 17, 1773).

“NOVELTIES.”

Nicholas Brooks frequently promoted maps, prints, and other products in the pages of Philadelphia’s newspapers in the early 1770s.  In an advertisement in the March 17, 1773, edition of the Pennsylvania Journal, he peddled “NOVELTIES” for the amusement of consumers.  Today, a headline for the same items might instead say “CARDS and GAMES” to attract the attention of prospective customers seeking leisure activities.

Brooks listed three games his notice, one board game and two card games.  In “THE Royal Geographical Amusement, or the European Traveller, designed for the Grand Tour,” players learned about geography as they moved their tokens around a map of Europe.  Brooks indicated that he sold the version of the game “by Doctor Nugent,” suggesting that he stocked a copy produced in 1770 by Carington Bowles in London rather than the original published by Thomas Jefferys in London in 1768.  This board game became the first known case involving maps and copyright infringement.  Copyright and Cartography provides an overview of the case as well as images of both maps/gameboards.  Robert Sayer produced another version, attributed to “Dr. Journey,” in 1774.  The game became popular enough that R.H. Laurie continued to produce it in 1823.  The Victoria and Albert Museum provides both the rules and an image of the map/gameboard. Players apparently read descriptions of each location as they moved their tokens around Europe.

In addition, Brooks sold “Geographical Cards, or a View of the principal Cities of the known World, designed for the recreation of young Gentlemen and Ladies” and “Cards of Antient History.”  John Ryland, who ran a boarding school in Northampton, created both games.  In the full title for the “Geographical Cards,” Ryland recommended their use in boarding schools.  Bowles printed the fifty-two “Geographical Cards” in 1770.  He presumably supplied Brooks with the “Cards of Antient History” as well, sending him several “NOVELTIES” to sell to colonizers in Pennsylvania.

Shopkeepers often included playing cards among the merchandise they listed in their advertisements.  Brooks attempted to distinguish these games from “the depredations daily committed upon all the finest feelings of humanity by the common gambling Cards.”  He presented the history and geography games as an “elegant and chaste invention” that would preserve the “innocence” of those who played them.  As an added bonus, these games educated players as they entertained them.  Given the critiques of luxury and leisure aimed at those who too enthusiastically participated in the transatlantic consumer revolution, Brooks sought to help prospective customers justify purchasing and playing these games.

September 16

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

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

New-York Journal (September 13, 1770).

“The best Clubs, and the greatest Entertainments in this City, were at the above Tavern.”

Samuel Fraunces was one of the most illustrious tavernkeepers of his day.  His fame continues into the twenty-first century, due in part to the quality of the services he provided to guests in eighteenth-century America and in part to the continued operation of Fraunces Tavern as a restaurant and museum at the corner of Pearl Street and Broad Street in New York.  Fraunces advertised the various taverns he operated in the late 1760s and early 1770s.  More than a decade later, he hosted George Washington’s farewell to his officers at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.

Fraunces ran an advertisement in the September 13, 1770, edition of the New-York Journal to announce the opening of his newest venture, the “QUEEN’s-HEAD TAVERN, Near the Exchange.”  He attempted to downplay the necessity of placing an advertisement even as he promoted the various services and amenities available at his tavern.  He emphasized that during his “many Years” of operating a tavern “the best Clubs” met at his establishment and experienced “the greatest Entertainments.”  Given the reputation he had built, Fraunces “flatters himself the Public are so well satisfied of his Ability to serve them, as to render the swelling of an Advertisement useless.”  Its only purpose, he declared, was to “assure his former Friends and the Public in general, that every Endeavour will be used to give them the highest Satisfaction.”

Yet other “swelling” embellished Fraunces’s advertisement as he attempted to attract patrons.  He noted renovations taking place; the tavern was “now fitting up in the most genteel and convenient Manner.”  He also inserted a nota bene to inform prospective customers that he provided take-out and delivery options for those “who live at a convenient Distance.”  Fraunces concluded with a manicule directing attention to a short note explaining that the “House at the Gardens will be duly attended as usual.”  He referred to another venture that he operated simultaneously, Vauxhall Garden, a restaurant, tavern, and pleasure garden named after the popular site in London.

Fraunces had indeed established his reputation as restaurateur and tavernkeeper before opening the Queen’s Head Tavern in the fall of 1770, yet he did not consider his past success sufficient for attracting patrons to his new enterprise.  Instead, he inserted an advertisement to spread the word about his newest venture, amplifying his reputation in the process.

August 28

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

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

Aug 28 - 8:28:1769 Boston-Gazette
Boston-Gazette (August 28, 1769).

“Tavern at the King’s Arms on Boston Neck.”

In the summer of 1769, the George Tavern on Boston Neck became the Tavern at the King’s Arms. When Edward Bardin of New York acquired the property from Gideon Gardiner, he rebranded the business as part of his efforts to “merit Favour” from prospective patrons. The establishment Bardin described in advertisements that ran in the Boston-Gazette and the Boston Post-Boy offered amenities for both “Ladies and Gentlemen,” including a garden “prepared … in an elegant Manner.” This was not a tavern for raucous drinking but instead a place to gather for leisurely dining, drinking, and conversation. In addition to “an Assortment of neat Wines … and other Liquors,” Bardin supplied the “best Tea and Coffee … to accommodate his Customers.” If they preferred, ladies and gentleman could enjoy “New-York Mead and Cakes” instead of tea or coffee.

To aid prospective patrons in visiting the new Tavern at the King’s Arms, Bardin arranged for a shuttle service that ran between “Capt. Paddock’s, Coach-Maker in Common Street” and the tavern. He advised potential customers that he had “prepared a commodious Coach to wait upon any Ladies or Gentlemen, from 3 o’Clock till 4 in the Afternoon.” Those who did not wish to board the carriage at Paddock’s shop could instead be picked up “at any other Place in Town,” provided that they gave sufficient notice when sending their requests. Not only could patrons enjoy the many amenities of the Tavern at the King’s Arms during their visit, they could also travel there in style in the “commodious Coach.” Bardin and Paddock charged one shilling per person for a round trip.

The new proprietor of the tavern offered another convenience for consumers: take out food. In addition to serving breakfast in the morning, dinner at midday, and supper in the evening, he also prepared “hot Chicken Pies for ready Suppers” for “Customers who are pleased to send for them.”   Bardin opened his advertisement pledging “to merit Favour by a constant and diligent Application” to the “Command” of the “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Town of Boston.” To that end, he offered a variety of amenities and conveniences for prospective patrons to enjoy, including gardens, an assortment of food and beverages, shuttle service to and from the tavern, and take out food for those unable to dine at his establishment. Bardin not only promised hospitality, he also helped prospective customers envision what they could expect to experience at the new Tavern at the King’s Arms.

June 30

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Jun 30 - 6:30:1769 New-London Gazette
New-London Gazette (June 30, 1769).

“A neat BOAT, suitable for the reception of passengers.”

Readers encountered four advertisements for transportation via “Passage Boat” in the June 30, 1769, edition of the New-London Gazette. Ebenezer Webb sailed between New London and Sterling on Long Island “as usual,” though he advised prospective passengers that they “may be landed on any Part of the East End of the Island.” Peter Griffing charted a similar course across Long Island Sound, but kept a different schedule than his direct competitor, Webb. A brief advertisement reminded readers that “Truman’s Passage-Boat plies between Sagharbour and Norwich Landing, as usual.”

Samuel Stockwell inserted a much more extensive advertisement to address prospective passengers; it occupied as much space on the page as the other three advertisements combined. Unlike the others, Stockwell did not transport passengers and freight across Long Island Sound. Instead, he sailed up and down the Thames River between New London and Norwich. In order to pursue that enterprise, he had “lately built and has now fitted out a neat BOAT, suitable for the reception of passengers.” In a nota bene, he added that he provided food and wine “at a very reasonable rate.”

Griffing, Truman, and Webb did not comment on why readers of the New-London Gazette might wish to travel aboard their passage boats except to move freight and passengers from one place to another. Each implied that crossing Long Island Sound was much more efficient than making a journey by land. Stockwell, on the other hand, suggested that “Gentlemen or Ladies” might wish to make a voyage aboard his boat “for their health or pleasure,” presenting his business as part of a nascent tourism and hospitality industry that began to emerge in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Realizing that passengers seeking leisure activities likely would not sustain his new endeavor by themselves, he also made a practical appeal to “Gentlemen that have occasion to attend the courts” when they were in session in New London and Norwich. Stockwell set a regular schedule, but he adapted during those weeks that prospective passengers needed to attend “the sitting of the courts.” Hiring passage on his boat, he proposed, would “lessen the vast expence of the law” by eliminating the “great expense of horse hire and keeping.” Even though less than fifteen miles separated New London and Norwich, those who traveled between the two incurred significant expenses if they made the journey on land. Stockwell provided an attractive and more comfortable alternative, one that made the journey a “pleasure” even for those who traveled to attend to business at the courts.

October 27

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Oct 27 - 10:27:1768 New-York Journal
New-York Journal (October 27, 1768).

“A grand set of Fire-works.”

The proprietors of Ranelagh Garden advertised leisure activities, especially fireworks displays, to colonists in New York and the surrounding area throughout the spring, summer, and fall of 1768. As October drew to a close, they announced plans for “a grand Set of Fire-Works” for “the last Time for the Season.” The proprietors planned to go out with a bang, literally, by presenting a program that included “a Variety of Pieces, several of them in an intire new and elegant Taste.” The “Pieces” did not consist primarily of projectiles launched into the air and visible from some distance. Instead, they amounted to an ornamental design created by igniting devices filled with gunpowder and other combustible chemicals.

The show took place in four stages, each with a display even grander the previous. Indeed, the descriptions of the “FIRST FIRING” through the “FOURTH FIRING” became increasingly elaborate. The first, for instance, presented a “beautiful Cascade of different Fires,” but the grand finale consisted of “An illuminated Statue of Harlequin flying on a Cord, with a Fire Tube in his right Hand, which will set fire to an Italian Candle, I the right Hand of a Figure representing Columbine; which Figure will communicate Fire to an Horizontal Wheel, by which she will be turned round, backwards and forwards several Times. The Whole to conclude with the Flight of Harlequin, to the Place from whence he came, and several large double and single Rockets.”

This entire program was a show that colonists would be disappointed to miss, not only because it happened to be the last of the season. Several of the pieces had not “ever been exhibited here before,” including “A new Piece representing a large and beautiful Palm Tree, with three large Chinese Fountains, on the Top curiously decorated.” One of the most elaborate displays depicted “a magnificent Pavilion, with three Fronts beautifully embellished, with Illuminations, Chinese and Venetian Fountains, Italian Candles, and Diamonds, with the Letters G.R. under an illuminated Crown.” The initials stood for George Rex, a Latin appellation for George III. Colonists participated in entertainments that honored the monarch even as they quarreled with Parliament over the quartering of troops in Boston and the imposition of taxes on paper, glass, and other goods throughout the colonies.

Among the many advertisements for consumer goods that crowded New York’s newspapers, other notices promoted leisure activities. They marketed experiences to colonists who had the time and the means to partake in them. Along with pleasure gardens, spas, and inns, the fireworks at Ranelagh Gardens were part of an incipient tourism and hospitality industry that emerged as part of the consumer revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century.

June 20

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

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

Jun 20 - 6:20:1768 New-York Gazette Weekly Post-Boy
New-York Gazette: Or, the Weekly Post-Boy (June 20, 1768).

“The commodious Inn, in Princeton, long known by the name of the Hudibras.”

As spring turned to summer in 1768, the number of advertisements aimed at travelers and others seeking entertainment during moments of leisure increased compared to the frequency of their appearance throughout the winter. Josiah Davenport placed advertisements in newspapers published in both Philadelphia and New York when he opened the Bunch of Grapes inn and tavern in Philadelphia, extending an invitation to locals and travelers alike. The proprietors of Ranelagh Gardens advertised a series of fireworks exhibitions in newspapers printed in New York. Samuel Fraunces simultaneously promoted food, lodgings, and entertainment at Vauxhall Garden, an alternative destination on the outskirts of New York City. An advertisement in the June 20 supplement to the Boston Evening-Post announced that the “Waters of Jackson’s Spaw are now in a good Degree of Perfection,” the first notice concerning “Jackson’s Mineral Well” that appeared in Boston’s newspapers since the previous summer. On the same day, Jacob Hyer inserted an advertisement for the “commodious Inn” he recently opened in Princeton, New Jersey, in the New-York Gazette: Or, the Weekly Post-Boy. Especially in northern colonies, readers encountered seasonal advertisements from an emerging hospitality and tourism industry in the late colonial period.

Hyer had a particular advantage working in his favor when it came to attracting guests to his tavern and inn, the Hudibras. Like many of his counterparts, he had “furnished the House with the best of Liquors” as well as “the best Provisions he can Procure.” Unlike his competitors, however, “the Stage-Waggons from New-York to Philadelphia and back, put up at his House.” This likely increased his clientele since passengers became guests, making it less necessary to advertise. On the other hand, Hyer may have believed that alerting residents of New York to the various amenities at the Hudibras could influence their decisions about taking a trip to Philadelphia. Even before commencing the journey they could plan for comfortable accommodations along the way rather than leave to chance any arrangements for food and lodging. Hyer’s desire “to entertain Travellers … in the best Manner” made the journey sound as appealing as the destination, encouraging readers to consider traveling between New York and Philadelphia for business or for pleasure.