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

“In Consequence of the Boston Port-Bill … he has opened a Store in Salem.”

In October 1774, Nathan Frazier did what he could to continue selling “an Assortment of Goods, suitable for the Season,” when the Boston Port Act closed the harbor in retaliation for colonizers destroying shipments of tea the previous December.  He opted to open a second location, renting a shop in Salem.  In the October 18 edition of the Essex Gazette, published in that town, he informed readers that “in Consequence of the Boston Port-Bill, and with a View of accommodating those of his Customers to whom it may be most convenient to have their Supplies conveyed by Water,” he now did business in Salem as well as in Boston.  The circumstances had not caused him to close his original store; he “still continues his Business at his Store in Boston as usual.”  Accordingly, his customers “may be supplied at either of said Stores,” though Frazier, “for the present, give[s] his personal Attendance at his Salem Store.”

In addition to inserting this notice in the Essex Gazette, the merchant also placed it in the Boston Evening-Post and the Boston-Gazette on October 17, increasing the chances that readers in Boston, Salem, and other towns would see it.  In the Boston Evening-Post, Frazier’s advertisement happened to appear immediately below William Blair Townsend’s notice that he sold goods “imported before the oppressive Acts on this Town and Province were laid” and, accordingly, could be bought and sold “without any Breach on the solemn League and Covenant” that called for ceasing trade with Britain until Parliament repealed the Coercive Acts.  In the Essex Gazette, Samuel Flagg asserted that “he is determined not to import any more Goods at present,” alluding to current events without naming them as plainly as Frazier and Townsend.  All three advertisements testified to the challenges that merchants and shopkeepers faced as well as their efforts to meet them.  As much as Frazier wished to encourage consumers to visit either of his shops, it was not business “as usual” in Boston and other towns in Massachusetts.  Advertisements, as well as news articles and editorials, made that clear.