Preview

September 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (September 7, 1773).

“She expects a large and neat Assortment of Millinary from London soon.”

Jane Thomson, “SOLE-DEALER AND SEPARATE TRADER,” ran her own business in Charleston in the 1770s.  The milliner took to the pages of the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal to inform current and prospective clients that she “has removed from Tradd-Street to Old Church-Street, next Door to Mr. Sarazin, Silversmith,” and invited them to visit her at her new location.  She wished to maintain her clientele, expressing “grateful Thanks to her Friends and Customers for their past Favours” and stating that she “will be much obliged to her former Customers for the Continuance of their Commands.”  The milliner also hoped to expand her share of the market, promising “steady Attention” to all orders that would “give Satisfaction to all who are pleased to employ her.”

In addition to exemplary customer service, Thomson emphasized the hats as well as fabrics, ribbons, laces, other adornments, and supplies she stocked for making hats.  She declared that she “has a neat Assortment of Goods suitable for her Business.”  To further entice current and prospective clients, the milliner did not rely on her current inventory alone.  Rather than settle for leftovers that she moved from one shop to another, her customers would soon have access to a “large and neat Assortment of Millinary from London.”  Thomson expected a delivery that would replenish her supplies and keep her current with the latest fashions in the most cosmopolitan city in the empire.  On occasion, merchants, shopkeepers, tailors, milliners, and other advertisers previewed new merchandise as a means of generating excitement among prospective customers.  They leveraged anticipation to market goods not yet available, encouraging consumers to watch for subsequent advertisements or visit their shops frequently to find out what kinds of new goods recently arrived.  On another occasion, Thomson promoted “A fresh Supply of MILLINARY GOODS” that she imported from London, naming the ship and captain that delivered them to demonstrate that she did indeed carry goods recently arrived in the colony.  Like many other advertisers, she recognized that consumers placed a premium on the newest arrivals … and might even find promises of imminent arrivals even more alluring.

April 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Apr 29 - 4:29:1768 New-Hampshire Gazette
New-Hampshire Gazette (April 29, 1768).

“JUST PUBLISHED … LETTERS from a FARMER in PENNSYLVANIA.”

An advertisement for a pamphlet that collected together all twelve of John Dickinson’s “LETTERS from a FARMER in PENNSYLVANIA, to the INHABITANTS of the BRITISH COLONIES” ran for the second consecutive week in the April 29, 1768, edition of the New-Hampshire Gazette. Interested readers could purchase the pamphlet at the local printing office in Portsmouth or directly from Mein and Fleeming, the publishers, “at the LONDON BOOK STORE, North Side of King Street, BOSTON.”

The advertisement explained why readers should invest in the pamphlet: “Among the WRITERS in favour of the COLONIES, the FARMER shines unrivalled, for strength of Argument, Elegance of Diction, Knowledge in the Laws of Great Britain, and the true interest of the COLONIES.” Yet readers did not need to make decisions about purchasing the pamphlet solely on that recommendation. Daniel Fowle and Robert Fowle, the printers of the New-Hampshire Gazette, provided then with a preview of the pamphlet’s contents. “Letter XI” appeared in its entirety on the first and second pages of that edition. Similarly, “Letter X” occupied the first and final pages of the previous issue, the one in which the Fowles first published the advertisement for the pamphlet. Prospective buyers could read the Farmer’s arguments for themselves (as well as investigate the several notes he inserted to direct readers to the various sources he invoked). Examining one or two letters could convince some readers that they needed to acquire and study all of them in order to better understand the proper relationship between Parliament and the colonies at a time of general discontent with imperial policies.

Whether encountering an excerpt of another title at the end of a novel or the first chapter of a book available online, modern consumers are accustomed to publishers providing previews as a means of inciting interest in purchasing books. The Fowles adopted a similar strategy in the eighteenth century. They had been reprinting Dickinson’s “Letters” for many weeks, but as they reached the conclusion of the series the last several essays served dual purposes. In addition to disseminating news and editorial opinion, the final “Letters” also became advertisements for a publication stocked and sold by the printers of the newspaper that carried those essays.