Performances

June 30

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Journal (June 30, 1773).

“A very grand and magnificent FIREWORK.”

Newspaper advertisements reveal some of the entertainments enjoyed by colonizers, including fireworks displays.  In the summer of 1773, for instance, John Laugeay organized and promoted a “very grand and magnificent FIREWORK, superior to any thing of the kind ever shewn here” for the “Ladies and Gentlemen” of Philadelphia who purchased tickets from him or at the London Coffee House.

His advertisement in the June 30 edition of the Pennsylvania Journal provided an extensive description of the different kinds of fireworks the audience would enjoy on July 14, including “one large Windmill, three large, and three small Wheels, six Pigeons, nine Serpentine Boxes, twelve Italian Candles, [and] six large, and six small Cherry Trees.”  In addition, he hoped to entice certain genteel gentlemen with a “superb Wheel of running fire, containing the arms of the antient and noble order of free and accepted Masons.”  Laugeay devised another spectacle that he expected would resonate with the entire audience, including those with concerns about the tense relationship between the colonies and Parliament.  He intended for them to experience a sense of patriotism and belonging within the empire when they watched “Two forts of twelve cannon each, one English and the other French, each firing at the other, wherein the English gains the victory.”  Beyond those displays, Laugeay promised a “great number of different changes too tedious to particularize.”  While the advertisement served as a preview, colonizers would have to see the entire exhibition to truly appreciate all that Laugeay had planned.

Although the fireworks were the primary draw, Laugeay described other elements of the experience he would create for his audience.  In a nota bene, he asked readers to take note of a “commodious Gallery built for the reception of company,” a comfortable place to socialize before the exhibition and then watch it once it began.  He also reported that “the band of music from the regiment will attend,” providing the eighteenth-century version of a soundtrack for the production.

“Ladies and Gentlemen who intend honouring the exhibition with their presence” had two weeks to acquire tickets.  Laugeay sketched for their imaginations an epic event that they would regret missing if they did not attend.  He likely hoped that his advertisement would do more than generate ticket sales.  After all, it had the potential to create a buzz among those who purchased tickets and conversed with friends and acquaintances about the upcoming event.  In turn, more people might get tickets of their own after hearing that so many others planned to attend.  Laugeay presented an opportunity not only to partake in the fireworks, the gallery, and the band, but also the sense of community that so many people, then and now, experience when attending concerts, sporting events, fireworks exhibitions, and other popular culture events.

October 23

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

New-Hampshire Gazette (October 23, 1772).

“He has been oblig’d to take away the upper Gallery intirely.”

As audiences in Philadelphia enjoyed “FEATS in HORSEMANSHIP” performed by Mr. Bates and illusions performed by Hyman Saunders and Abraham Benjamin in the fall of 1772, patrons in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, attended performances “at the ACADEMY ROOM in Pitt-Street.”  A brief advertisement in the October 16 edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette reminded prospective members of the audience that the “Exhibitions will be perform’d as usual” that evening, though with some alterations or variation in the program.  A week later, a new advertisement provided a list of acts for an upcoming performance, demonstrating even to those who had recently attended that the theater offered something new for their amusement and entertainment.  The acts included “THE DEVIL and the DOCTOR, … A DRAMATIC SATIRE,” “A PANTOMINICAL ENTERTINMENT in Grotesque Characters, call’d WIN HER, and WEAR HER; or, HARLOQUIN SKELETON,” and an “Interlude of SINGING & DANCING, call’d NAVAL GLORY; or, the BRITISH TARS TRIUMPH.”

The advertisement advised that the doors would open at five o’clock and the performance would begin “Punctually” at six o’clock.  Patrons might wish to arrive early to claim their spots for viewing the various acts, especially following a reconfiguration of the Academy Room.  The notice acknowledged complaints “that the first Gallery was very In-commodious.”  To make the experience more comfortable and, in turn, more enjoyable for the audience, “Mr. MORGAN takes this opportunity of informing the TOWN, that has alter’d [the Academy Room}as much for the better as the House will allow.”  In order to do so, “he has been oblig’d to take away the upper Gallery intirely.”  That may explain why the advertisement gave the prices for tickets at “3, & 2 Pistereens each” compared to the “3, 2, and 1 Pistereen” in the previous notice.  Admission to the upper gallery, no longer available, had apparently cost one pistareen.  That portion of the advertisement demonstrates that performers promoted more than just the spectacles on the stage when they marketed their shows.  In this advertisement, the space in which the performances took place was just as important as the program of satires, pantomimes, and songs.  Those acts could have been performed in any tavern, but utilizing a space specifically adapted for the comfort and convenience of audiences enhanced the experience of attending the shows.