Superior to Imported Goods

September 14

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Journal (September 14, 1774).

“PARCHMENT … esteemed superior to most imported from England.”

In September 1774, Robert Wood took to the pages of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet and the Pennsylvania Journal to promote the parchment that he made in Philadelphia.  To entice prospective customers, he resorted to a variety of appeals.  Most significantly, he invoked customer satisfaction, seeking to convince readers not yet familiar with his product that he already gained a positive reputation among those who had used it.  For instance, he declared that “those who have tried it” considered his parchment “superior to most imported from England.”  He previously encouraged readers to “Buy American” in another advertisement more than two years earlier.  As the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia to consider how to respond to the Coercive Acts, including the possibility of another round of nonimportation pacts, Wood had a head start in presenting a “domestic manufacture,” an item produced in the colonies, as an alternative to imported parchment.  Customers did not have to sacrifice quality, plus they could acquire Wood’s parchment “at reasonable rates.”

To further bolster his reputation, Wood declared that the demand for his parchment had “much encreased of late.”  Those familiar with it wished to purchase it in greater quantities, at least according to Wood, another testimonial to the quality of the product.  Wood was prepared to meet the demand, having “extend[ed] his works, so that he now expects to be able to supply his customers in a manner more satisfactory than heretofore.”  Serving his customers included establishing a distribution network for their convenience in acquiring his parchment.  Joseph Crukshank, a printer in Philadelphia, sold Wood’s parchment, as did Isaac Collins, a printer in Burlington, New Jersey.  Taking all of this into consideration, Wood confidently declared that consumers who purchased and used his parchment could do so “without fear of a disappointment.”  He did not make an argument in favor of domestic manufactures as explicitly as he had in other advertisements, but perhaps he did not consider it necessary at a time that the imperial crisis had intensified so significantly.  Stating that his parchment had been “esteemed superior” to English imports sufficiently made the connection for readers, allowing Wood to focus on the demand for his product rather than convince prospective customers of their duty to privilege American products as a means of practicing politics.

January 15

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

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

Providence Gazette (January 15, 1774).

“Clothiers Press-Papers … much superior to any imported from Europe.”

John Waterman sought a clothier, “well experienced in all Parts of the Business,” to work at “the new and most compleat Works in the Colony” of Rhode Island, recently established at “the Paper-Mills in Providence.”  According to the advertisement he placed in the January 15, 1774, edition of the Providence Gazette, candidates for the position would have “good Encouragement” if they could produce recommendations for their “Diligence, Steadiness, Activity and Integrity.”  Waterman instructed “Any Person with the above Qualifications” to apply at the clothier works at the paper mill.

In addition to seeking an employee, Waterman used his advertisement for another purpose.  He inserted a nota bene under his signature, advising the public that he sold “Clothier Press-Papers made by said WATERMAN, as good as any manufactured in America, and much superior to any imported from Europe.”  He had deployed the same marketing strategy the previous summer, declaring that his “Clothier Press-Papers” were “equal to any made in America, and far superior to any imported from Europe.”  In that advertisement, Waterman listed local agents in Providence, East Greenwich, and Newport, who also sold his product.

Throughout the imperial crisis, many advertisers made “buy American” appeals to consumers.  They did so more frequently when relations with Parliament became more strained, but even in times of relative calm some still asserted that colonizers should purchase “domestic manufactures” instead of imported goods.  Waterman did not make an explicitly political argument to readers of the Providence Gazette, though they certainly understood the context in which he proclaimed his “Clothiers Press-Papers” were “much superior to any imported from Europe.”  Along with the politics, Waterman and others aimed to convince American consumers that they did not have to accept inferior products when they bought goods produced in the colonies.  Waterman emphasized quality in his advertisement, likely trusting that readers would reach their own conclusions about other advantages of supporting his enterprise rather than purchasing similar items imported from Europe.