Silent Wilde

June 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy (June 3, 1771).

“News Carrier.”

John Green and Joseph Russell, printers of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy, had more content than would fit in the June 3, 1771, edition of their newspaper.  They inserted a note advising that “Advertisements omitted, will be in our next.”  Even with limited space, advertising accounted for the entire final page as well as half a column on the third page.  The printers also managed to squeeze one advertisement each on the first and second pages.  In so doing, they selected advertisements that promoted their own endeavors.

The front page consisted almost entirely of news about “the Gentlemen, who were returned to serve as Members of the Honorable House of Representatives” for the colony as well as the “Gentlemen … elected Councellors for the Ensuing Year.”  A single advertisement, however, ran across the bottom of the page.  In it, Silent Wilde, “News Carrier,” advised current and prospective customers that he would continue to “ride once every Week from Boston to Northampton,Deerfield,” and other towns in the western portion of the colony in order “to supply Gentlemen … with one of the Boston News-Papers.”  Green and Russell had a particular interest in publishing Wilde’s advertisement since recruiting customers in western towns meant more subscribers for their newspaper.  In turn, greater circulation of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy made the publication more attractive to advertisers.  Green and Russell gave Wilde’s advertisement a privileged place, increasing the likelihood that readers would take note of it.

An advertisement at the bottom of the last column on the second page similarly advanced Green and Russell’s interests.  “J. RUSSELL, Auctioneer,” announced a sale “at the Auction Room in Queen-street” scheduled for the next day.  That “J. RUSSELL” was none other than Joseph Russell, the printer of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy.  Throughout most of their partnership, Green oversaw the printing office while Russell operated an auction house.  Advertisements for Russell’s auctions frequently appeared in the newspaper his partner ran, often receiving special consideration in terms of placement.  In most instance, that meant they appeared first among the advertisements.  In this case, Green interspersed Russell’s advertisement among news items, making sure to find space for it while also increasing the likelihood that readers who otherwise passed over advertising would spot the notice when they perused the news.

The placement and order of other advertisements in the newspaper did not seem to follow any particular principle beyond forming columns of equal length.  Advertisements for a “News Carrier” and an “Auction Room” owned by the partners who printed the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy, on the other hand, received special treatment.  The printers used their position to their advantage when choosing how to present those advertisements to readers.

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy (June 3, 1771).

April 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Boston Evening-Post (April 8, 1771).

“Rider from Boston to Northampton, Deerfield, &c.”

Silent Wilde’s advertisement in the April 8, 1771, edition of the Boston Evening-Post testified to the dissemination of that newspaper to subscribers who lived far from its place of publication.  Wilde described himself as a “Rider from Boston to Northampton, Deerfield, &c.”  He served towns in the western part of the colony, one hundred miles and more from the bustling port city.  Only six newspapers were printed in the colony at the time, five of them in Boston and one in Salem.  For residents of Northampton, Deerfield, and other towns, the Boston Evening-Post was a local newspaper.

The printing office of the Connecticut Courant, published in Hartford, was closer than Boston, but that newspaper did not carry nearly as much news about Massachusetts matters, including coverage of the governor and the colonial assembly, as the Evening-Post and other newspapers from Boston.  The issue of the Evening-Post that carried Wilde’s advertisement, for instance, devoted two out of three columns on the front page to news with a “BOSTON, APRIL 4” dateline.  The printers evenly divided the second page between news from London and news from Boston, including exchanges between the governor and the assembly.  The Connecticut Courant reprinted news from Boston publications, but that newspaper’s coverage of Massachusetts politics and current events was not nearly as extensive as what appeared in the newspapers published in that colony.  As was the case in most colonies, newspapers printed in the largest city served as both local and regional publications, disseminating news to the far reaches of the colony.

Wilde ran his advertisement in the Evening-Post, but he indicated that he “carried the Boston News-Papers.”  His “Engagement with the Printers” to serve subscribers in western towns likely included Boston-Gazette, the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy, the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter, and the Massachusetts Spy.  The names of those publications suggested both local and regional coverage of news and dissemination of newspapers.  It took some time for those publications to reach residents of Northampton, Deerfield, and other towns, but they eventually read the same news and advertising, as packaged by the printers, as residents of Boston.