Stationer

August 5

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

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

Connecticut Courant (August 5, 1776).

“Old books he can metamorphose into new.”

When Nathaniel Patten, a bookseller, bookbinder, and stationer, “opened shop under the Printing-Office in Hartford” in the summer of 1776, he placed an advertisement in the Connecticut Courant.  He described himself as a “BOOK-BINDER and STATIONER from BOSTON” even though he had been pursuing those trades in Norwich, Connecticut, for more than two years.  He may have believed that prospective customers considered a bookbinder from Boston more qualified than one from Norwich.  He stated that he had been “regularly bred” to bookbinding; in other words, he received training as a youth, perhaps as an apprentice and perhaps in Boston.  That prompted Patten to confidently proclaim that he could “bind, gild, and letter books in as splendid a manner as if done in London.”  Consumers may have considered a bookbinder from Boston more likely to possess such skills than a bookbinder from Norwich.

Patten sought to dazzle prospective customers with a description of what he could do to their books when entrusted to him for new bindings.  “Old books,” he declared, “he can metamorphose into new.”  Yet that promise held only as long as the books remained on shelves to impress those who saw them, but not necessarily upon closer examination.  The bookbinder clarified that “the difference will not be perceptible to those who do not open them.”  Patten encouraged readers to judge a book by its cover … and by its binding and by the gilded edges of its pages.  Appearances mattered, at least according to the bookbinder seeking customers after arriving in a new town.

Patten had some experience making both appeals.  The copy in the first paragraph of his advertisement in the Connecticut Courant replicated copy from the advertisement in which he introduced himself to residents of Norwich and nearby towns in the Connecticut Journal two years earlier, suggesting that Patten clipped the notice from the newspaper or retained his correspondence with the printer.  He apparently considered the appeals effective since he deployed them again.  Artisans often touted their training and skill.  Patten merely adopted a popular marketing strategy when he did so.  His claim about transforming old books, however, was not one that other bookbinders used.  Patten seemingly devised it on his own when deciding the best way to market his services.

November 20

Carl Robert Keyes Uncategorized , , , , ,

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

Norwich Packet (November 17, 1774).

“NATHANIEL PATTEN, BOOK-BINDER & STATIONER.”

The decorative border that enclosed David Nevins’s advertisement for hats and hat trimmings in the Norwich Packethelped in distinguishing it from most others in that newspaper, yet it paled in comparison to the use of ornamental type in Nathaniel Patten’s advertisement.  Patten, a bookbinder and stationer, commissioned a border for his notice, but he arranged for something much more elaborate than the relatively simple borders for Nevins’s notice and another placed by clock- and watchmaker Thomas Harland.

For some readers, the border for Patten’s advertisement may have evoked a highboy chest or other large piece of furniture.  It may even have been intended as a bookcase and secretary desk that would have held the various books and stationery listed within the border.  For the lower portion, the left, right, and bottom of the border were composed of a single line of decorative type, just like the borders in the other advertisements, while in the upper portion the left and right sides had three lines of even more intricate type.  Those sides rose into an arch composed of other kinds of detailed printing ornaments.  The compositor even created five finials, one each on the left and right at the bottom of the arch and three clustered together at the top.  The year, 1774, appeared within a pendant inside the arch, much like a piece of furniture would have an engraving.  If the type remained set into the new year, Patten had the option to update the date.  The advertisement was massive, filling almost an entire column on the final page of the November 17, 1774, edition.  The first time that it appeared, it ran on the first page on November 3, that time occupying an entire column because of the amount of space required for the masthead.  The border appeared heavy, giving Patten’s advertisement more weight compared to others in the Norwich Packet.  The finished product does not reveal how closely Patten worked with the compositor in designing or approving the border.  Whatever the case, he almost certainly paid extra for it.

That newspaper had recently marked its first year of publication.  Throughout that time, it did not tend to incorporate visual images except for the packet ship that appeared in the masthead.  The printers did not make stock images of ships, houses, horses, indentured servants, or enslaved people available to advertisers, nor did advertisers commission woodcuts that represented their businesses.  However, the newspaper did regularly embellish advertisements with decorative borders, establishing a different kind of visual appeal to engage readers.

August 29

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

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

Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet (August 29, 1774).

“He carries on the Bookbinding and Stationary business in an extensive manner.”

Among the many advertisements that ran in the August 29, 1774, edition of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, one from William O’Brien offered several goods and services.  He first offered several varieties of alcohol and popular groceries, including “Jamaica spirit, West-India and continent rum, all kinds of wines, tea and sugar of different kinds, coffee, cordials and patent medicines.”  In addition to that inventory, he also stocked “a large collection of the best books, both antient and modern.”  Yet O’Brien also identified himself as a bookbinder and stationer, promoting in particular custom-made account books, ruled or unruled, to any size as bespoke.”  He offered those items to both merchants and retailers who might buy in volume “to sell again.”

Although O’Brien advertised in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, published in Philadelphia, he lived and worked in Baltimore.  He likely did not expect that his notice would generate much business among readers in Philadelphia; instead, he sought customers in his own town and the surrounding area, realizing that for many years the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Pennsylvania Journal, Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, and other newspapers printed in Philadelphia served as local newspapers for towns in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland.  O’Brien could have chosen to advertise in the Maryland Journal, Baltimore’s first newspaper, in addition to or instead of one of the newspapers in Philadelphia, though he may have had doubts about the efficacy of doing so.  Commencing publication on August 20, 1773, the Maryland Journal had just marked its first year, yet its appearance had been sporadic during that time rather than sticking to a weekly schedule.  O’Brien turned to a more reliable newspaper, likely familiar with its circulation in Maryland and, as a result, having greater confidence in the money he invested in advertising in Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet. William Goddard, the printer of the Maryland Journal, still had work to do to win over prospective advertisers in Baltimore.

June 24

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Connecticut Gazette (June 24, 1774).

“Old Books he can metamorphose into new.”

When Nathaniel Patten, “BOOKBINDER and STATIONER, from BOSTON,” set up shop in Norwich, he placed an advertisement in the Connecticut Gazette, published in New London, but curiously not in the Norwich Packet.  Perhaps he suspected that advertising in the Connecticut Gazette was the better investment since it had been in circulation for more than a decade while the Norwich Packet commenced publication only nine months earlier.  Until that time, the Connecticut Gazette had been the local newspaper for Norwich, though the Connecticut Courant (published in Hartford), the Providence Gazette, and newspapers from Boston and other cities in New England made their way to Norwich, some more consistently than others depending on arrangements that subscribers made with post riders.  In New England and beyond, newspapers served colonies and regions rather than just the towns where they were published.  The full title of the Norwich Packet and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, and Rhode Island Weekly Advertiser revealed its aspirations to do so as it built up its circulation.  For the moment, however, Patten may have believed that advertising in the Connecticut Gazette would yield more customers.

The bookbinder and stationer made several appeals in hopes of drawing readers to his shop or convincing them to send orders.  Like many others in his trade, he also sold books, giving over more than half the space in his advertisement to a list of books and pamphlets he stocked.  Those “Books upon the most important Subjects” included “the Hon. John Hancock’s Oration on the 5th of March, 1774” in commemoration of the Boston Massacre.  He also listed many kinds of paper and writing equipment, such as “Sealing Wax” and “Brass Ink-Holders,” promising a “variety of other Articles in the Stationery Way.”  Patten declared that he had been “regularly bred to the [bookbinding] Business.”  In other words, he received formal training as a youth, preparing him to “bind, gild and letter Books in as splendid a Manner as if done in London.”  The newcomer from Boston did not merely compare his skills to what was available in that city but instead asserted that the quality of his work was equal to that produced in the metropolis at the center of the empire.  To that end, Patten boasted that “Old Books he can metamorphose into new,” pledging that “at least the Difference will not be perceptible to those who do not open them.”  He could not reverse wear from years of use or repair other damages to the pages themselves, but he could transform the bindings, the most visible part of any books displayed on shelves or elsewhere.  That claim challenged prospective customers to put Patten to the test so they could judge for themselves what the bookbinder was capable of accomplishing.  Even if they started with just one volume, satisfied customers likely meant more business over time.

October 13

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Journal (October 13, 1773).

“He therefore flatters himself, that he, a young beginner, will receive suitable encouragement from the generous public.”

Benjamin January, a “BOOK-BINDER and STATIONER,” offered his services to residents of Philadelphia in an advertisement in the October 13, 1773, edition of the Pennsylvania Journal.  He declared that he had recently opened a shop “where he carries on the BOOK-BINDING BUSINESS … and where Merchants, Shop-keepers, and others, may be supplied with all sorts of account books, and and ruled to any pattern, at the lowest price.”  He also listed a variety of stationery and writing supplies available for sale.  Like many other advertisers, January emphasized customer service as an important part of his business.  He promised that “he shall make it his peculiar study to merit the approbation of all such, who please to employ him, so shall it be his constant endeavour to give, to the utmost of his power, entire satisfaction.”  In a final plea to prospective customers, the bookbinder and stationer emphasized that he was “a young beginner” who would benefit “suitable encouragement from the generous public.”  He suggested that consumers had a duty to reward him for his enterprising spirit.

Benjamin January, Trade Card (Philadelphia, ca. 1783-87).  Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.

That “young beginner” apparently convinced prospective customers to give him a chance, at least for a time.  In the 1780s, he remained in business and continued to advertise by distributing an engraved trade card that gave his location as “the sign of the Bible & Dove” with “in Front Street” written in a blank space.  The bookbinder and stationer could change locations, retain the sign associated with his shop, and update his trade card accordingly.  He first listed Front Street as his location in an advertisement for a lost pocketbook in the May 3, 1780, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette, but did not make reference to “the sign of the Bible and Dove” until advertising in the June 5, 1783, edition of the Pennsylvania Packet.  Advertising did not guarantee success.  The December 3, 1787, edition of the Independent Gazetteer carried a bankruptcy notice “issued forth against Benjamin January, of the city of Philadelphia, Bookbinder and Stationer.”  Following that setback, January tried again, soliciting “a continuance of the favours of his former employers, and of all others who wish to encourage him” at his new location on Chestnut Street in an advertisement in the February 13, 1788, edition of the Independent Gazetteer.  He continued advertising in newspapers throughout the remainder of the 1780s and into the 1790s.

Whatever the difficulties that January encountered, he joined several merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans in marketing efforts that extended beyond newspaper notices, the most common form of advertising in eighteenth-century America.  His trade card resembled those that circulated in London and urban ports in the colonies.  An ornate border depicted books, ink wells, shakers, quills, and desk accessories.  A ribbon woven throughout the border listed other wares, including “INK POWDER,” “SLATES,” “WAFERS,” “PENCILS,” “WAX,” and “PAPER.”  In the text contained within the border, January advanced some of the same appeals he deployed when he introduced himself to readers of the Pennsylvania Journal and other newspapers published in Philadelphia.  He asserted “all Sorts of Account Books are Made & Ruled to any Pattern” and sold “all Sorts of stationary wares at the Lowest Rates.”  Such a fine trade card signaled initiative and industriousness, though January may not have received the return on this investment that he hoped.  Still, his trade card testifies to the rich visual landscape of advertising media that circulated in Philadelphia during the era of the American Revolution.

October 28

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

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

Pennsylvania Gazette (October 28, 1772).

“A catalogue of new and old books … is given away gratis.”

William Woodhouse, a bookseller, stationer, and bookbinder in Philadelphia, regularly advertised in the public prints in the early 1770s.  For instance, he ran an advertisement in the October 28, 1772, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette, advising consumers that he had recently received a shipment of new inventory from London.  Woodhouse provided some examples to entice prospective customer, starting with stationery items.  He stocked everything from “a large assortment of the best writing paper in all sizes” to “round pewter ink stands” to “sealing-wax, wafers, quills, [and] black and red pencils.”  Woodhouse also listed some of the “variety of new books” at his shop, including “Baskerville’s grand family folio bible, with cuts,” “Pope’s Young’s Swift’s Tillotson’s, Shakespear’s, Bunyan’s. and Flavel’s works,” and “Blackstone’s commentaries, 4 vols. 4to.”  The abbreviation “4to” referred to quarto, the size of the pages, allowing readers to imagine how they might consult or display the books.  Woodhouse even had “Newberry’s small books for children, with pictures” for his youngest customers.

The bookseller concluded his newspaper advertisement with a nota bene that invited consumers to engage with other marketing materials.  “A catalogue of new and old books, with the prices printed to each book,” the nota bene declared, “is given away gratis, by said Woodhouse.”  That very well may have been the “CATALOGUE OF A COLLECTION OF NEW AND OLD BOOKS, In all the Arts and Sciences, and in various Languages” that Woodhouse first promoted six weeks earlier in another newspaper, the Pennsylvania Packet.  That catalog also included “a large quantity of entertaining Novels, with the lowest price printed to each book.”  Most book catalogs, like newspaper advertisements, did not indicate prices.  Woodhouse apparently believed that stating his prices would help in convincing customers to purchase their books from him rather than from any of his many competitors in Philadelphia.  To draw attention to both the prices and his selection, he gave away the catalog for free.

This catalog may have been part of a larger advertising campaign that Woodhouse launched in the fall of 1772.  He might have also distributed handbills or posted broadsides.  In 1771, he circulated a one-page subscription proposal for “A Pennsylvania Sailor’s Letters; alias the Farmer’s Fall.”  A quarter of a century later, Woodhouse distributed a card promoting copies of “Constitutions of the United States, According to the Latest Amendments: To Which Are Annexed, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federal Constitution, with Amendments Thereto.”  It stands to reasons that Woodhouse used advertising media other than newspapers on other occasions, though such ephemeral items have not survived in the same numbers as newspaper advertisements.  I suspect that far more advertising circulated in early America than has been preserved and identified in historical societies, research libraries, and private collections.

February 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Feb 11 - 2:11:1768 Massacusetts Gazette
Massachusetts Gazette (February 11, 1768).

“*** Country Customers may be supplied as well by Letter as if present.”

When his partner passed away, Nicholas Bowes placed an advertisement in the Massachusetts Gazette. In it, he issued an invitation for “all Persons that have Accounts open with said Company to come and settle them.” Yet he also wanted current, former, and prospective customers to know that he continued to sell books and stationery “at the same Shop.” Bowes devoted about half of the space in his advertisement to a nota bene that announced the continuation of the business that he had previously operated with Wharton.

To that end, Bowes advanced several marketing appeals. Like many merchants and shopkeepers, he promised consumers that he offered a variety of choices among his “large and compleat Assortment” of books and stationery. Customers could select items that matched their own needs and tastes. Bowes also sold his wares “at the lowest Rates,” attempting to draw visitors to his shop with competitive prices. In making those appeals, Bowes resorted to two of the most common marketing strategies in eighteenth-century newspaper advertisements. He saved his most innovative appeal for last: “*** Country Customers may be supplied as well by Letter as if present.” He even used distinctive typography – the asterisks and italics – as a visual means of attracting notice to that particular effort to market his merchandise. For the convenience of those who lived outside the busy port and faraway from his shop he made available all of the same benefits enjoyed by his local patrons. In proclaiming that distant customers “may be supplied as well by Letter as if present,” he pledged not to show any preferences or to take advantage of those who submitted their orders through the mail.

Retailers did not invent mail order shopping in the late nineteenth century, despite the proliferation and popularity of catalog shopping during the period. Nor did Bowes pioneer the strategy in the mid eighteenth century … but Bowes did offer a service that was not yet a standard practice promoted to potential customers via advertising. Merchants and shopkeepers sporadically made note that they served customers via the post in their newspaper notices, suggesting that the practice was fairly common even if it had not yet been codified as one of the standard marketing strategies that appeared in print. By inserting it into his advertisement, Bowes confirmed that he did provide this service, expanding his potential market to the hinterlands beyond Boston.

October 9

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

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

Oct 9 - 10:9:1767 South-Carolina and American General Gazette
South-Carolina and American General Gazette (October 9, 1767).

“ORDERS for BOOKS and STATIONARY WARES.”

Each issue of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette concluded with a colophon that ran across all three columns at the bottom of the final page. Most colonial newspapers included a colophon on the final page, though they differed in length and content. The colophon for the October 8, 1767, issue of the Massachusetts Gazette simply stated “Printed by Richard Draper.” On the same day, the New-York Gazette: Or, the Weekly Post-Boy included a longer colophon: “New-York: Printed by JAMES PARKER, at the NEW PRINTING-OFFICE in Beaver-Street where Subscriptions, and Advertisements, &c. for this Paper are taken in.” Parker used the colophon as an advertisement for his own newspaper. One of his local competitors did the same in a more elaborate colophon for the New-York Journal, but also promoted job printing and offered relatively rare information concerning prices for newspaper advertisements. “NEW-YORK: Printed by JOHN HOLT, at the Printing-Office near the Exchange, in Broad Street, where all Sorts of Printing Work is done in the neatest Manner, with Care and Expedition. Advertisements of a moderate Length are inserted for Five Shillings, four Weeks, and One Shilling for each Week after.”

Among this variation, Robert Wells devised one of the most elaborate colophons that graced the pages of colonial newspapers in the 1760s. Had the type been set in a single column and inserted among the advertisements in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, the contents of the colophon would have been indistinguishable from the paid notices inserted by colonial entrepreneurs. It first indicated Wells’s location, “at the Old Printing-House, Bookseller’s and Stationer’s Shop on the BAY,” and then mentioned specific services related to the newspaper, “Subscriptions and ADVERTISEMENTS.” To entice potential advertisers to choose his newspaper rather than either of the other two printed in Charleston at the time, Wells underscored that the South-Carolina and American General Gazette “circulated through all the SOUTHERN COLONIES.” Advertisers could reach broad markets of prospective consumers.

Yet Wells did not conclude the colophon there. He inserted two more lines about his work as a bookseller and stationer, invoking common appeals to prices, quality, and choice found in advertisements placed by retailers of all sorts. He also hawked bookbinding services, making the “Old Printing-House, Bookseller’s and Stationer’s Shop on the BAY” a location for convenient one-stop shopping. Wells accepted “ORDERS for BOOKS and STATIONARY WARES,” but also promised that “a large Stock is constantly kept up.” He did “all Kinds PRINTING and BO[O]K-BINDING Work … executed with Accuracy and Expedition, at the most reasonable Rates.”

Robert Wells took advantage of the space allotted in his newspaper for a colophon by inserting what amounted to an advertisement for the goods and services he provided. Such was the privilege of operating the press that every issue of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette concluded with a message to colonial consumers.

June 30

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

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

Jun 30 - 6:30:1767 South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal
South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (June 30, 1767_.

“Compleat Assortment of Stationary Ware, consisting of almost every Article in that Branch.”

George Wood, “STATIONER and BOOKBINDER in Elliott-street” in Charleston, adopted many of the marketing appeals most frequently used by merchants and shopkeepers who sold dry goods and housewares in eighteenth-century America. In particular, he emphasized consumer choice when he noted that he stocked “a very large and compleat Assortment of Stationary Ware” and then listed dozens of specific items. His inventory included everything from the basics, like “Writing Paper of all Kinds” and “best London Ink Powder,” to specialty items, like “large Ink Pots for Compting-Houses” and Surveyors Pocket Cases of Instruments.” To guarantee that potential customers did not assume that he sold only the items listed in his advertisement, Wood concluded his list with “&c.” (the eighteenth-century abbreviation for et cetera), allowing readers to conjure up images of other stationery wares that might be in Wood’s shop.

He followed a similar strategy in listing books he had for sale, listing some of the most popular titles before making nods toward general categories, such as “a great Variety of small Picture Books for Children” and “a great Variety of Song Books.” Just in case readers did not notice particular titles they desired, Wood doubled down on his appeal to consumer choice: “He has likewise to dispose of, upwards of One Thousand Volumes of curious Books, consisting of Histories, Voyages, Travels, Lives, Memoirs, Novels, Plays, &c.” The bookseller had something for every taste and interest. Customers just needed to visit his shop and explore the shelves to find the books they wanted.

Wood realized schoolmasters in particular would likely be interested in the variety of titles he stocked, especially spelling and math books. He indicated that some volumes were intended “for the use of Schools.” To encourage instructors to choose from among his selection, Wood offered discounts if they would “take a Quantity” to distribute among their students.

By offering such a “large and compleat Assortment” of stationery, writing supplies, and books, Wood encouraged customers of all sorts to visit his shop. Providing a list of merchandise not only underscored consumer choice but also allowed him to identify specific types of customers with particular interests or specialized needs. His advertisement addressed the general interests of colonial readers, but also marketed certain wares to several occupational groups.

May 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

May 8 - 5:8:1767 New-Hampshire Gazette
New-Hampshire Gazette (May 8, 1767).

“As neat as any in Boston.”

John Edwards, a “BOOKBINDER and STATIONER from BOSTON,” sold a variety of books as well as writing supplies at his shop on Queen Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Edwards did not describe himself as a bookseller, even though he devoted approximately half of his advertisement to listing some of the titles he carried. Throughout the eighteenth century members of the book trades often specialized in one trade yet supplemented their incomes by taking on some responsibilities more closely associated with other aspects of book production and distribution. Both printers and bookbinders, for instance, commonly sold books that they had not printed or bound.

By trade and training, Edwards may have considered himself first and foremost a bookbinder, taking pride in the unique skills mastered in that occupation. Yet the demand for bookbinding services in the town of Portsmouth likely made it impossible to earn his living solely from that trade. Considering that Edwards had relocated from Boston at some point, competition among bookbinders for the business of a finite number of potential customers, even in that bustling port, may have prompted him to seek out other opportunities in the neighboring colony. Fewer bookbinders resided in Portsmouth, but so did fewer potential customers. In the face of less demand for the services of bookbinders, Edwards sold consumer goods related to his trade – books and writing materials – to generate additional revenues. He likely bound some of his imported books to the taste and budget of those who purchased them.

Edwards attempted to mobilize his Boston origins to his advantage. He proclaimed that he bound “all sorts of Books” and made “Account Books of any size, as neat as any in Boston.” Having lived and worked in that city, Edwards was qualified to testify to the quality of the bookbinding done there and assess his own work in comparison. He pledged to potential customers that his work was comparable to what they would find in a larger and more distinguished market, assuring them that its quality was comparable to what they would find in the urban center that most immediately commanded their attention when making comparisons. Similarly, advertisers in Boston favorably compared their wares and workmanship to what was produced in London. Colonists looked to the next larger market for validation as they shaped their own practices of consumption.