Sarah Goddard and John Carter

October 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Oct 29 - 10:29:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (October 29, 1768).

“Weatherwise’s ALMANACK, For the Year 1769, To be Sold by the Printers hereof.”

During the fall of 1768 printers throughout the colonies participated in an annual ritual: advertising new almanacs for the coming year. Sarah Goddard and John Carter, the printers of the Providence Gazette, got an early start that year. They first advertised Abraham Weatherwise’s “N. England Town and Country Almanack” at the end of August. That advertisement extended nearly three-quarters of a column and advanced several appeals to prospective customers.

It ran for just two weeks before Goddard and Carter replaced it with a different advertisement of a similar length. This one focused on various aspects of the contents, including “a beautiful poetical Essay on Public Spirit, wrote by an American Patriot,” “a Table of Roads,” and “Bearings of different Places from the Rhode-Island Light-House, with Directions for entering the Port of New-London, very serviceable to Navigators, more particularly to those unacquainted with the Coast.” The notice concluded with some comments on its brisk sales so far: “The first Impression of Weaterwise’s Almanack, through the Encouragement of the Public, having met with a Sale far exceeding the Printers most sanguine Expectations, they were nearly all disposed of before several large Orders from our Country Friends came to Hand; but as another Edition will be published on Monday, they may depend on having their Orders immediately completed.” The following week Goddard and Carter updated that advertisement, eliminating the final paragraph and adding a bold new headline proclaiming that they had “Just PUBLISHED” a “SECOND EDITION.” Weatherwise’s almanac was popular, or so the printers wanted it to seem.

Over the next several weeks Goddard and Carter irregularly inserted that advertisement. It appeared in some issues, but not in others. Perhaps other content sometimes crowded out the lengthy notice. At the end of October, the printers shifted to yet another advertisement, this time resorting to a notice of only three lines: “Weatherwise’s ALMANACK, / For the Year 1769, / To be Sold by the Printers hereof.” Like other short advertisements place by printers, this one likely served two purposes. It complete a column that otherwise did not have sufficient content while also promoting a product that generated revenues beyond the newspaper’s subscription and advertising fees. Goddard and Carter had already committed significant space to marketing the almanac to readers of the Providence Gazette. This brief advertisement reminded prospective customers who had not yet purchased copies of their availability without occupying as much space as other notices had in previous issues.

September 17

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

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

Sep 17 - 9:17:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (September 17, 1768).

“SECOND EDITION … New-England TOWN and COUNTRY Almanack.”

Sarah Goddard and John Carter began advertising the New-England Town and Country Almanack … for the Year of our Lord 1769 in the Providence Gazette in late August 1768, allowing readers a little more than three months to acquire a copy before the new year commenced. Just three weeks later they inserted a substantially revised advertisement to announce that they had “Just PUBLISHED” a “SECOND EDITION.” Either the initial notice had been quite effective and the printers decided they needed to issue a second edition to continue to meet popular demand or they calculated that an advertisement about a second edition would incite demand that had not yet manifested.

In addition to selling the almanac both “Wholesale and Retail” at their printing office at the Sign of Shakespeare’s Head, Goddard and Carter had several agents who peddled it on their behalf, including “the several Gentlemen Merchants of Providence and Newport, and Mr. SOLOMON SOUTHWICK, Printer in Newport.” Goddard and Carter may have sold enough copies and received indications of the almanac’s success from their agents that they quickly decided to issue a second edition. The original advertisement extended three-quarters of a column and advanced several appeals, including one that addressed the current political and economic climate in Rhode Island in particular and the colonies more generally. The advertisement stressed that both the contents and the paper qualified as “domestic manufactures,” drawing on public discourse about the surplus of imported goods that created a trade imbalance with Britain.

That advertisement may have yielded substantial sales of the almanac, especially if Goddard and Carter had been conservative in the number they printed for the first edition. On the other hand, they may have planned from the start to advertise a second edition shortly after promoting the first edition. Doing so would have made the New-England Town and Country Almanack appear especially popular, prompting prospective customers to obtain their own copies now that they were aware of the approval it had received from other consumers.

The new advertisement occupied approximately two-thirds of a column, but it attempted to stimulate demand with new copy. In particular, the advertisement for the second edition focused on the contents other than the astronomical calculations. Like the previous advertisement, it emphasized politics, leading with a description of “a beautiful poetical Essay on Public Spirit, wrote by an American Patriot” and concluding with a description of “a Portrait of the celebrated Mr. WILKES, engraved from an original Painting; to which is prefixed, some Anecdotes of that most extraordinary personage.” The advertisement also included two rhyming couplets devoted to John Wilkes, a radical journalist and politician in England who inspired the colonists in their own acts of resistance in the face of abuses by Parliament. Goddard and Carter devoted nearly half of the page to reprinting a letter by Wilkes. The advertisement for the almanac immediately followed that news item. The printers apparently expected readers to make connections between the two.

The middle of September may have seemed exceptionally early to advertise a second edition of an almanac for the coming year, especially considering that the printers in many American towns and cities had not yet even begun to advertise almanacs. Given that Goddard and Carter faced particularly stiff competition from printers in the Boston, they may have devised a scheme intended to establish their position in the marketplace before other almanacs became available.

September 3

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

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

Sep 3 - 9:3:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (September 3, 1768).

“We have a sensible Pleasure in finding, that our weekly Publications, have hitherto afforded general and entire Satisfaction.”

With the exception of two extraordinary issues (extras) published on August 24, 1765, and March 12, 1766, the Providence Gazette went on hiatus between May 11, 1765, and August 9, 1766. Some of this period coincided with the Stamp Act, but other factors played a role as well. The Providence Gazette halted publication nearly six months before the Stamp Act went into effect and did not resume until a couple of months after colonists learned that it had been repealed. When Sarah Goddard and Company revived the Providence Gazette they explained that “the Procrastination of a weekly Paper in this Town, was unavoidably owing to the inadequate Number of Subscribers to carry it on with Credit, and to defray the necessary Charges that will always attend such an Undertaking.” By early August 1766 they had enough subscribers to risk printing weekly issues once again, thus offering an important service to the public. As they explained in an address in the first issue upon commencing publication once again, “the Productions of the Press have ever been esteemed one of the principal Means of defending the glorious Cause of Liberty.”

A year later, Sarah Goddard and Company inserted a short notice to “inform their candid Readers, this this Week’s Paper compleats the Year since the PROVIDENCE GAZTTE, &c. was revived.” They encouraged subscribers, advertisers, and others to settle accounts, but also invited the further “Encouragement” of those who understood the importance of a having a newspaper published in Providence. A year later, the publishers – now Sarah Goddard and John Carter – composed a lengthier acknowledgment that ran for several weeks. Rather than merely calling on readers to pay their bills, Goddard and Carter had three purposes. First, they thanked their “Friends” who had “patronized and endeavoured to promote the Success of this Paper.” Then they pledged to continue serving the public in general and their readers in particular by further improving upon a newspaper that had “hitherto afforded general and entire Satisfaction.” They vowed that “no Pains or Expence shall be spared,” but they also requested “the Assistance of Gentlemen of Learning and Ingenuity.” The usefulness of the Providence Gazette to all readers depended on the publishers’ ability to acquire interesting and timely content to better inform the public. Goddard and Carter invited readers to become correspondents who submitted items for publication. Only after expressing their gratitude for past favors and their plans for further improvements did Goddard and Carter turn to settling accounts. In so doing, they underscored that their ability to serve the public depended on debtors paying their bills.

Many eighteenth-century printers inserted similar notices alongside other advertisements that appeared in their publications. They called for payment, but argued that readers, advertisers, and others also performed a service to the public when they settled accounts. Such transactions were not strictly a private matter. Instead, they had repercussions that reverberated throughout the community, determining whether or not a newspaper continued publication and pursuing its mission to keep the public informed and vigilant.

August 27

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

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

Aug 27 - 8:27:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (August 27, 1768).

“Now in the PRESS … THE N. England Town and Country Almanack.”

During the final week of August 1768, a signal that fall was soon approaching appeared in the Providence Gazette. The printers, Sarah Goddard and John Carter, inserted an advertisement announcing that the New-England Town and Country Almanack … for the Year of Our Lord 1769 was “Now in the PRESS, And speedily will be published.” Goddard and Carter intended to sell the almanac “Wholesale and Retail” at the printing office, but colonists could also purchase copies from “the several Gentlemen Merchants of Providence.”

Like many others who wrote, compiled, or printed almanacs, Goddard and Carter emphasized that the astronomical calculations were specific to the city in which it was published. In this case, the contents were “Fitted to the Latitude of PROVIDENCE, in NEW-ENGLAND.” Hoping to establish a wider marker, however, the printers advised potential customers that the calculations could “without sensible Error, serve all the NORTHERN COLONIES.” They faced competition from the various almanacs published in Boston and New York, but Goddard and Carter made a bid for readers throughout New England to acquire their almanac instead. After all, it carried the name New-England Town and Country Almanack rather than Providence Town and Country Almanack or Rhode Island Town and Country Almanack.

Goddard and Carter further attempted to create an affinity for the New-England Town and Country Almanack among readers throughout the region, especially throughout Rhode Island. They devoted half of the advertisement to reprinting the preface, providing a preview to prospective customers. In it, Abraham Weatherwise, the pseudonymous Benjamin West, underscored that the almanac “is printed on Paper manufactured in this Colony.” He then continued with a plea that mixed politics and commerce, asserting that “those who may be kindly pleased to promote the Sale thereof, will do a singular Service to their Country, by keeping among us, in these Times of Distress, large Sums of Money, which will otherwise be sent abroad.” Both the contents and the paper qualified as “domestic manufactures” that colonists had vowed to consume rather than continuing to purchase goods imported from Britain. The New-England Town and Country Almanack was an American production not only because it was written and printed in Rhode Island; the materials involved in creating it, in addition to the contents and labor, also originated in the colonies.

Extending more than three-quarters of a column, the first advertisement that notified the pubic of the imminent publication of the New-England Town and Country Almanack comprised a substantial portion of the August 27, 1768, edition of the Providence Gazette. In it, the publishers and the author collaborated to convince prospective customers throughout the colony and throughout the region to choose this particular almanac from among the many options. They first advanced a standard appeal to accuracy, but concluded with an argument certain to resonate at a time when colonists continued to protest the Townshend Act and other abuses perpetrated by Parliament.

April 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Apr 10 - 4:9:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (April 9, 1768).

“Enquire of the Printers.”

This short advertisement from the April 9, 1768, edition of the Providence Gazetteoffered several books for sale.  Interested readers were advised to “Enquire of the Printers” to learn more about the conditions of the sale. Sarah Goddard and John Carter, publishers of the Providence Gazette, may have placed the advertisement.  After all, many colonial printers simultaneously sold books and stationery at their shops.  However, this advertisement more likely promoted books from a private library. For various reasons, colonists interested in selling used goods often placed anonymous notices in newspapers, instructing potential buyers to “Enquire of the Printers.”  As a result, printing offices became clearinghouses for disseminating information, not only in print but also via letters and conversations. Newspaper printers also served as brokers who made introductions between buyers and sellers when the latter did not wish to disclose their identity to the general public.

That Goddard and Carter placed this advertisement seems especially unlikely considering that they more explicitly marketed their wares and services elsewhere in the same issue. The colophon consistently invited readers to purchase subscriptions and advertisements as well as commission “all Manner of PRINTING WORK.”  In another short advertisement, Goddard and Carter forthrightly stated, “BLANKS of all Kinds sold by the Printers hereof.”  In contrast, “Enquire of the Printers” did not assume the same level of responsibility for an anticipated sale.  Furthermore, the majority of the books listed in the advertisement were medical texts, suggesting that they came from the library or estate of a reader who had specific interests.

That being the case, the fees that some advertisers paid to place their notices in newspapers apparently covered more than setting the type and the amount of space occupied in the publication for a series of weeks.  Advertisers who asked readers to “Enquire of the Printers” expected to receive additional services; they relied on printers to expend additional time and energy in facilitating transactions with potential buyers.  For their part, printers absorbed this as the cost of doing business.  The revenues generated from advertisements justified any additional labor required when they published “Enquire of the Printer” notices in their newspapers.

March 27

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

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

Mar 27 - 3:26:1768 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (March 26, 1768).

“To be Sold at the Printing-Office, in Providence, A VARIETY of entertaining and useful Books.”

Sarah Goddard and John Carter, printers of the Providence Gazette, included an advertisement for their services in every issue of their newspaper. The colophon at the bottom of the final page did not list merely the particulars of publication, that the newspaper was “Printed by SARAH GODDARD, and JOHN CARTER, at the PRINTING-OFFICE, the Sign of Shakespear’s Head.” Instead, the colophon also advised readers that “Subscriptions, Advertisements, and Letters of Intelligence, are received for this Paper” and “all Manner of PRINTING WORK is performed, with Care and Expedition.” In adopting this method to market their services as job printers, Goddard and Carter became the most consistent advertisers in their own newspaper.

The partners did not, however, limit their advertising to the space reserved for them in the colophon. Like other colonial printers, they sometimes asserted their privileges as publishers to insert their own advertisements among the paid notices submitted by merchants, shopkeepers, artisans, and other colonists. In some cases, printers likely devised short advertisements out of necessity to fill pages that fell short of content. Whatever their reasons, Goddard and Carter inserted their own notice in the lower right corner on the third page of the March 26, 1768, edition of the Providence Gazette. In it, they promoted a “VARIETY of entertaining and useful Books, among which are, the West-India Pilot, Mariner’s Compass, Calendar, and Daily Assistant.”

Often colonial printers cultivated multiple revenue streams by simultaneously working as booksellers and stationers. Yet Goddard and Carter stocked goods beyond paper, ink, and other accouterments for writing. Their advertisement listed navigation equipment, such as “Hadley’s and Davis’s best Quadrants, and a Variety of the best Gunter Scales and Dividers.” They carefully paired the specific titles they named in the first portion of their advertisement with some of the useful or necessary tools in the second, alerting prospective customers that they could conveniently acquire both reference works and equipment without visiting multiple shops.

Today’s advertisement and the colophon for each edition of the Providence Gazette reveal that “the PRINTING-OFFICE, the Sign of Shakespear’s Head” in Providence was a bustling place. Goddard and Carter did far more than edit and publish the local newspaper. They also earned their living and served the local community via job printing and selling books and navigation equipment. Like printers in other cities and towns, their printing office was a nexus for a variety of activities folded into a single enterprise.

October 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Oct 17 - 10:17:1767 Providence Gazette
Providence Gazette (October 17, 1767).

“NOW IN THE PRESS, … THE NEW-ENGLAND ALMANACK.”

As surely as leaves turned colors and then fell from trees in the fall, colonists had another reminder of the changing seasons and the approach of a new year: advertisements for almanacs published in newspapers throughout the colonies. Some printers and booksellers placed notices as early as September, prompting potential customers to anticipate the impending publication of the most accurate and most fashionable almanacs. Others began promoting their almanacs in October, but the advertisements became more frequent and more extensive in November and December. Although printers and booksellers attempted to gauge demand, some always ended up with surplus almanacs that they then advertised well into the new year.

Sarah Goddard and John Carter, printers of the Providence Gazette, made an early start on printing and advertising the New-England Almanack, or, Lady’s and Gentleman’s Diary, for the Year of Our Lord 1768. Potential customers still had nearly eleven weeks to acquire their almanacs, but Goddard and Carter knew that their printing office would face competition from the many printers and booksellers in Boston who marketed competing volumes. Advertising early raised the visibility of their almanac, perhaps giving it a privileged place in the minds of potential customers who would eventually encounter other options. Using advertisements to make their almanac familiar to readers could have instilled a sense of loyalty even before they were available for purchase.

Goddard and Carter’s advertisement for the New-England Almanack, relatively sparse in terms of words and space, served as an initial announcement. Upon publication, the printers introduced more extensive advertisements that included the table of contents and listed the price (both by the dozen and singles). In that manner, some advertisements for almanacs offered yet another visual marker of the passing seasons. As the new year drew closer, advertisements for almanacs became lengthier. Just as modern Americans have grown accustomed to certain advertising practices timed to the holiday season, early American readers experienced annual rhythms of marketing for almanacs as the newspaper advertisements became more frequent and more prominent before fading after the new year.