Sympathy

August 20

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

South-Carolina and American General Gazette (August 18, 1775).

“In Order to enable her to support her Family in these hard Time, she intends retailing … Gin, Brandy, Coffee.”

Women regularly advertised goods and services in early American newspapers.  Mrs. Miller, a milliner, for instance, ran an advertisement in the August 18, 1775, edition of the South-Carolina and American General Gazette.  Like many advertisements placed by female entrepreneurs, it did not differ from others placed by their male counterparts.  Mary Stevens also placed an advertisement in the same issue of that newspaper, though she deployed a marketing strategy more often used by women than by men.  She announced that she planned to open a store to retail wine, rum, gin, brandy, coffee, candles, and “many other Article.”  She did so, she declared, “in Order to enable her to support her Family in these hard Times.”  Rather than promote the quality or variety of her wares or promise exemplary customer service, some of the most common marketing strategies of the era, Stevens made her ability to support her family the primary reason that prospective customers should visit her store.  Many readers would have known more details than Stevens revealed in her advertisement, details that would have made her even more sympathetic.

Whatever her circumstances, Stevens had apparently conducted another sort of business for some time.  She devoted the second half of her advertisement to expressing “her most grateful Acknowledgments to the Gentlemen who have frequented her House.”  Again, many readers would have known whether Stevens took in boarders or prepared meals or served coffee in the parlor while her patrons discussed business and current events.  She served those “Gentlemen” on credit, but “these hard Times” made it necessary to ask them to “discharge their respective Accounts, in order to enable her to satisfy her very urgent Creditors.”  Men very often placed newspaper notices that called on associates to settle accounts, but rarely did they invoke the urgency that Stevens conveyed in her advertisement.  Even more rarely did they refer to supporting their families.  As a woman in business, Stevens may have been able to exercise a small amount of privilege in framing her advertisement in this manner, though the necessity that led her to do so did not suggest that she benefited from many advantages when it came to participating in the marketplace.

February 14

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update, Guest Contribution , , , , , , ,

GUEST CURATOR:  Ashley Schofield

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

Essex Gazette (February 14, 1775).

“The great Misfortune of losing his House and Store by Fire, with almost every Thing in and about them.”

Peter Frye was a justice of the peace in Salem, Massachusetts, when the town had a fire on October 6, 1774. According to Donna Seger, Frye was a Tory. Tories were also known as Loyalists, colonists who remained loyal to the king and Parliament. In an advertisement that he placed four months after the fire, Frye points out his misfortune of losing his house, store, and belongings due to the fire. “He is now obliged to beg all of those who were then indebted to him by Bond, Note, or on Account” to pay him what they justly owed.

Frye called for sympathy amongst the people of Salem by stating his misfortune of losing his house, store, and belongings. He thought that some readers would hesitate to engage because he was a Tory, either overlooking or disregarding his plea. He knew he was asking a lot of the people to help him recover, so began by noting that he lost everything.

Advertisements calling on readers to settle accounts and debts were common, but most advertisements were due to regular business transactions, not due to fires. Additionally, he not only lost his house and store, but allegedly all that was in them. In this matter, Frye no longer had his ledgers and account books due to the fire, which meant he had no records to confirm who owed him and what amount.

Frye relied on the sympathy and the good consciences of the people of Salem to help him out in this time of tragedy to gain back what he had lost. As Donna Seger explains, “Frye had tried to find his way back to ‘friendship’ with his Salem neighbors, but they had never been able to forget his commercial and judicial dealings contrary to Patriot proclamations.” Due to his position as a Tory on the eve of the American Revolution, townspeople held a grudge against him. Seger notes that Frye left Salem, moving to Ipswich and then Britain.

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ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY: Carl Robert Keyes

I enjoyed working with Ashley on this entry for many reasons, including the confluence of primary and secondary sources that went into crafting it.  We began with negotiating whether I would approve Frye’s advertisement as Ashley’s selection for this project.  I encouraged students to choose advertisements about consumer goods and services to build on our readings and discussions about the consumer revolution, but I also told them that I would consider other kinds of advertisements if they made convincing cases for what they hoped to learn from them and why they should be included in the Adverts 250 Project.  Ashley convincingly argued that she did not previously know about the fire in Salem in 1774.   Frye’s advertisement offered an opportunity to learn about that piece of local history and its aftermath.

To fill in the details, she consulted Streets of Salem, a blog produced by Donna Seger, Professor of History at Salem State University.  Seger composes “[s]omewhat random but still timely posts about culture, history, and the material environment, from the perspectives of academia, Salem and beyond.”  In the nine years that I have been producing the Adverts 250 Project, I have consulted and linked to Streets of Salem on many occasions, so I was pleased that Ashley discovered that wonderful and engaging resource when researching Frye’s advertisement.  In the entry that gave so much information about Frye, Seger weaves together various primary sources, informed by Mary Beth Norton’s 1774: The Long Year of Revolution.  Ashley was already familiar with Norton from our discussions about the historiography of the American Revolution.  Seger’s post about “Tea, Fire and a new Congress” vividly illustrated how historians incorporate secondary sources into their research on primary sources, not only for background information but also in presenting an interpretation of what happened, why it mattered then, and why we consider it important now.

During the research, writing, and revision process, Ashley also had an opportunity to learn more about early American print culture and various kinds of advertisements, especially notices that called on colonizers to settle accounts.  As a result, she was able to make a distinction between the familiar and standard notices that so often appeared in the pages of early American newspapers and the appeal that Frye made as he attempted to recover from a fire that had devasted his household and business.  I sometimes select advertisements that deliver local news (including some that ran in the Essex Gazette right after the Salem fire) to feature on the Adverts 250 Project.  Ashley contributed to the project’s examination of those sorts of newspaper advertisements.

January 22

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

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

Connecticut Journal (January 22, 1773).

“By Reason of an ill State of Health, and other Misfortunes, he has been for some Time unable to attend his Business.”

Joseph Hopkins, a goldsmith and jeweler in Waterbury, took to the pages of the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy to raise interest in his business in January 1773. He pledged that he “will supply those who may want any Articles in either the Goldsmith or Jewelry Way, on the most reasonable Terms.”  Such appeals, however, were not the primary focus of his advertisement.

Instead, Hopkins sought to generate sympathy among prospective customers.  He reported that he reopened his shop after having been closed, stating that “by Reason of an ill State of Health, and other Misfortunes, he has been for some Time unable to attend his Business.”  The goldsmith did not go into detail about any of those “Misfortunes,” though some readers may have already been familiar with his situation.  He did declare that he “has of late, in some good Measure recovered his Health” and was ready to serve clients once again.

Hopkins offered other news to entice readers into his shop.  He announced that he “engaged an approved Workman,” presumably someone with training and experience as either a goldsmith or jeweler, to provide assistance.  He likely hoped that employing an associate would help alleviate any concerns about what kinds of service customers would experience now that his shop opened again.  Yet Hopkins did not want the public to have the mistaken impression that he merely entrusted orders to his new assistance.  He asserted that he gave “constant Attendance himself.”

In his efforts to attract customers to his shop, Hopkins balanced pleas for sympathy with assurances of competence.  He hoped that recovering from poor health and other unspecified “Misfortunes” would prompt prospective customers to give him their business, but he also realized that sympathy alone might not win them over.  Accordingly, he maintained that both he and his new assistant were qualified to produce “any Articles in either the Goldsmith or Jewelry Way” for customers who gave his shop a chance.

November 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Journal (November 11, 1772).

“Would be much obliged to any merchant or others for employment.”

Employment advertisements regularly appeared among advertisements for consumer goods and services, legal notices, and other advertisements in early American newspapers.  Colonizers placed notices seeking work while prospective employers alerted readers about opportunities.  On November 11, 1772, for instance, the Pennsylvania Journal carried both sorts of notices.

One had a headline that proclaimed “WANTED” in larger font.  The anonymous advertiser sought a “Single man, that understands driving a carriage and taking care of horses.”  Any candidate “must be well recommended for his honesty and sobriety, as none other need apply.”  To learn more, including the identity of the potential employer, the advertisement instructed readers to “enquire of the Printers” of the Pennsylvania Journal or “at the Bar of the London Coffee-House.”  Both places served as clearinghouses for information that did not appear in the public prints.

A notice placed by a “YOUNG MAN” who “WANTS EMPLOYMENT” advised that the advertiser considered himself qualified for various positions, including “an assistant in a store, bar-keeper, or steward of a ship.”  He boasted that he was “well acquainted with Arithmetick” and “can be well recommended for his honesty and sobriety.”  The young man requested that anyone interested in hiring him contact “Mr. Allen Moore, tavern-keeper, Mr. Fegan, store-keeper, store-keeper in Water-Street, Mr. John Cunningham, at the Center-House, on the Commons, or the Printers of this paper.”  In so doing, he did the eighteenth-century equivalent of listing his references.

The most extensive of the employment advertisements attempted to play on the sympathy of prospective employers.  An anonymous “PERSON residing in this city” reported that he “lately met with real and unavoidable misfortunes.”  Furthermore, he had “a large family to support,” compounding his difficulties.  To meet his responsibilities, he would be willing to “travel to any part of the continent, or even to the West-Indies, to settle accompts, collect money, &c. &c. for the sake of his family.”  The advertiser claimed that he had experience “serv[ing]a respectable body of merchants” in Philadelphia “as their clerk” for several years.  He also offered to provide references, declaring that he could “bring sufficient testimonials for his integrity and abilities from some of the first merchants in the city.”  He demonstrated his familiarity with how merchants conducted business by instructing prospective employers to “Enquire at the bar of the Coffee-House.”  His advertisement, longer than the others, reflected his experience and, likely, his anxiety to secure a position in order to provide for his family.

December 14

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Providence Gazette (December 14, 1771).

“I intreat them to consider my late heavy, and grievous Misfortunes, and give their Custom to said Mill.”

In December 1771, Elisha Brown placed an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to inform readers that he would soon commence operations at his mill, “the nearest to the Town of Providence.”  In preparation, he offered advice to prospective customers, explaining “the best Way of keeping their Grain, in order to make good Meal.”  He lamented that sometimes “millers are blamed when they are not worthy of it, by Reason of the Grain’s being damp and unfit to grind.”  That being the case, he gave extensive instructions for storing corn and grain in order to avoid collecting moisture that resulted in “sweaty Dampness” and, ultimately, meal of “a soft, clammy Quality, which will never make good Bread.”  Prospective customers could save themselves a lot of grief if they followed Brown’s recommendations, though he likely aimed to spare himself from difficult interactions with dissatisfied customers as well.

Brown provided this guidance as a service to his customers.  For those not enticed by such concern for their prospects of receiving good meal upon supplying grain that had been stored appropriately, he also attempted to play on their sympathies as a means of convincing them to choose his mill over those run by competitors.  He had deployed a similar strategy several months earlier.  Brown declared, “I intreat” residents of Providence “to consider my late heavy, and grievous Misfortunes, and give their Custom to said Mill.”  He did not specify any particulars, assuming readers were already familiar with those events and might be inclined to assist him in overcoming those “Misfortunes.”  To further justify employing him, Brown underscored his industriousness, proclaiming that “constant Attendance will be given … from before Sunrise, in the Morning, till the Mill be cleared in the Evening.”  He planned to be on site as often as possible, but also arranged for Abner Thayer, a clothier, to tend the mill in his absence.

Whatever Brown’s “Misfortunes” may have been, he endeavored to recover from them, but he needed the assistance of customers who brought their grain to his mill.  He attempted to help them avert misfortunes of their own, giving lengthy directions for the best methods to store grain in order to produce meal of good quality.  In exchange for looking out for their welfare, he hoped that prospective customers would reward him by improving his own condition through their patronage at his mill.

April 10

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

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

South-Carolina and American General Gazette (April 10, 1771).

“Mrs. Russel will be much obliged to those that will employ her Hands.”

Elisabeth Russel, John Giles, and William Russel, the executors of Alexander Russel’s estate, harnessed the power of the press in fulfilling their duties.  In the spring of 1771, they ran an advertisement in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, calling on “ALL Persons indebted to the Estate … to make immediate Payment, and all Persons having Demands thereon to bring them in.”

The estate notice also attended to the continuation of the business that Alexander operated before his death.  “THE SHIPWRIGHT BUSINESS,” the executors announced, “is carried on as heretofore, under the Direction of a proper Person.”  Furthermore, “Mrs. Russel will be much obliged to those that will employ her Hands.”  In similar circumstances, some widows took over managing the family’s business, continuing responsibilities they previously pursued and expanding others.  After all, they made significant contributions before their husbands died, even if their names never appeared in advertisements.  Husbands tended to be the public face, but wives provided various kinds of labor, including keeping ledgers and interacting with customers, that did not receive the same recognition and notice.

When it came to the managing the Russels’ “SHIPWRIGHT BUSINESS,” however, the widow did not assume all of the responsibilities previously undertaken by her husband.  Instead, the executors assured prospective clients that “a proper Person” oversaw the day-to-day operations.  Yet they did not erase the widow.  They made clear that “Mrs. Russel” was now the proprietor.  The employees were “her Hands.”  She appreciated customers who continued to hire their services.  This formulation positioned the widow as both a proprietor who took appropriate steps in maintaining the business and an object of sympathy who merited consideration following the death of her husband.  Her livelihood depended, at least in part, on the family’s business remaining a viable enterprise.  In the interests of both her customers and herself, the executors suggested, the widow made responsible decisions.  Prospective customers could have confidence that the Russel family’s business, now headed by Elisabeth, maintained the same quality and continued uninterrupted in the wake of Alexander’s death.

April 6

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

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

Providence Gazette (April 6, 1771).

“Consider his Misfortunes, and to favour him with their Custom.”

When Elisha Brown resumed “his former Right and Estate in the GRIST-MILL” that he once operated, he took to the pages of the Providence Gazette to increase his chances of success.  He outlined his plans for running the mill, but also attempted to play on the sympathies of prospective clients in an advertisement that first ran on April 6, 1771.  He acknowledged that he was back in business thanks to “the Favour and Assistance of many of his Creditors, and some of his Friends” and requested “the Favour of his former Customers … to consider his Misfortunes, and to favour him with their Custom.”  Brown did not elaborate on those “Misfortunes,” apparently believing the community was already familiar with them and would respond to his plea that they once again entrust their grain to him for processing.

To serve his customers, Brown planned “to give constant Attendance” at the mill from sunrise until nine o’clock at night.  He would “make their Meal good” as well as replace any bags lost by mistake, but specified that he needed customers’ assistance in bringing him grain that was “clean and dry” in well-marked bags.  Achieving customer satisfaction depended in part on the care that clients took in preparing their grain for the mill, yet the miller also played an important role in the process.  Brown aimed “to please his Customers,” but resumed operations on a trial basis.  He pledged that if he “should be so unfortunate as not to please them” he would “procure some other Person to tend said Mill to their Satisfaction.”  Brown hoped to earn the approbation of his clients on his own, but he recognized that the success of the business might ultimately depend on hiring an associate.

In the process of informing the community that he once again operated his mill, Brown constructed a narrative of redemption to encourage clients to avail themselves of his services.  He already benefited from the “Favour and Assistance” of creditors and friends who overlooked his “Misfortunes” and now called on former customers and prospective new ones to do the same.  He asked them to give him an opportunity to demonstrate his commitment and competence during a trial period, intending to win their trust and return business.

July 31

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

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

Jul 31 - 7:31:1769 Newport Mercury
Newport Mercury (July 31, 1769).

“The Shoe-making Business is still carried on at her Shop.”

Elizabeth Mumford did not insert herself into the public prints until necessity forced her to do so. When her husband Samuel, a cordwainer, passed away in the summer of 1769, she ran advertisements in the Newport Mercury calling on “her late Husband’s Friends and Customers” to continue to patronize the family business. She referred to the shop on New Lane as “her Shop” and reported that she employed John Remmington, “who has work’d with her late Husband several Years.” Former customers may have been familiar with Remmington already, having interacted with him in the shop in the past. Whether or not they had previously made the acquaintance, Mumford underscored that the “Shoe-making Business” continued without disruption and that customers could “depend on being served with as good Work of every Sort as in her Husband’s Life-time.” Remmington’s presence provided continuity in the production of shoes, but Mumford likely made other contributions, such as waiting on customers and keeping accounts.

Mumford, however, downplayed any role that she had played or continued to play in the family business as partner, supervisor, or assistant. Instead, she presented herself as a widow who happened to own the shop yet otherwise depended on the good will of others. She reported that Remmington continued working at her Shop “for the Benefit of her and her Children,” making her appeal to “her late Husband’s Friends and Customers” all the more poignant. Without husband and provider, the widow and children found themselves in a vulnerable new position. Mumford crafted her advertisement to encourage sympathy and a sense of collective responsibility for her family among friends and patrons. She took what steps she could in engaging Remmington’s continued employment at her shop, but that did not matter if their former customers did not return in the wake of Samuel’s death. In other circumstances, the quality of the shoes produced in the shop on New Lane may have been sufficient promotion in newspaper advertisements, but Mumford did not consider that enough following the death of her husband. She crafted a narrative with greater urgency even as she noted the continuities in the shop. As a widow she enjoyed new financial and legal powers, but she tempered her portrayal of herself as an independent entrepreneur in her efforts to retain her husband’s clientele and “the Continuance of their Favours.”

September 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

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

Sep 5 - 9:5:1768 Newport Gazette
Newport Mercury (September 5, 1768).

“He will clean a Clock and keep it in good Repair three Years for One Dollar.”

When Robert Proud turned to the Newport Gazette to advertise that he “cleans Clocks and Watches” late in the summer of 1768, he determined that he needed to do more than promote the low prices he charged for his services. After proclaiming that he performed his work “as cheap as any One in America,” he listed his prices and laid a service plan for prospective customers. That plan included an initial cleaning as well as keeping clocks and watches “in good Repair” for a specified period. For clocks set his rate at “three Years for One Dollar” and for watches at “Half a Dollar [for] for One Year.” Most clock- and watchmakers, like other artisans, did not publish their fees in their advertisements. Proud backed up his assertion about his low prices by putting them on display for prospective customers to assess as they made a decision about whether to visit his shop. Some of his competitors occasionally offered to undertake additional repairs if customers were not satisfied with their initial efforts, but they usually limited such guarantees to a single year. By comparison, Proud’s service plan – three years for clocks – was quite generous.

That was enough to distinguish Proud from others who cleaned and repaired clocks and watches, yet he further elaborated on the service prospective customers could expect to receive in his efforts to attract their patronage. He efficiently completed his work, completing most jobs in a single day. For items dropped off in the morning, Proud either had them ready that evening or “next Day at farthest.” Prospective customers could expect the work done in a timely manner rather than consigning their clocks and watches to linger in Proud’s workshop. Furthermore, they did not need to interact with him directly in order to receive quality service, an appeal that Proud made especially for “any Person in the Country [who] will favour him with their Work.” Anyone who chose to have their clocks and watches delivered to his workshop rather than visiting in person and interacting directly with Proud could still “depend on being as well used as if present.”

Proud concluded his advertisement with a very different sort of appeal: he noted that he had fallen on hard times. “The Business is now so small,” he lamented, “that without some Increase, he cannot a get a comfortable Subsistence for his Family.” The situation was so dire that even though he had served the Newport community for twenty years that “from Necessity, [he] must, in a short Time, leave this his native Place, to seek his Bread elsewhere.” Proud pivoted from laying out his innovative service plan to attempting to provoke sympathy from readers. It must have been difficult to acknowledge his financial insecurity in the public prints, but by pairing that disclosure with his detailed service plan Proud suggested that he did not make false promises. Instead, prospective customers could depend on him following through on efficiently repairing their clocks and watches and returning them in a timely manner. His livelihood and the “Subsistence for his Family” was at stake if he did not deliver on the services and service plan he described in his advertisement.