What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“LINEN PRINTING … at their Manufactory … on Germantown Road.”
When the Continental Association prohibited importing goods from Great Britain it called on colonizers “in our several Stations, [to] encourage Frugality, Economy, and Industry; and promote Agriculture, Arts, and the Manufactures of this Country.” John Walters and Thomas Bedwell answered the call to give consumers alternatives to imported textiles. In an advertisement in the March 13, 1775, edition of Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, those entrepreneurs announced that they undertook “LINEN PRINTING, In all its Branches … at their Manufactory … on Germantown Road.”
Walters and Bedwell targeted “Ladies,” declaring that they “may have linens and muslins of all kinds printed for gowns, curtains, carpets, bed furniture, chair bottoms, covers for dressing-tables, handkerchiefs, and shapes for men’s waistcoats.” Perhaps the men who would wear those vests were just as interested in how they would maintain appearances while the Continental Association remained in effect, but discourse in the public prints often associated women with consumption even though men participated in the marketplace just as actively. No job was too small for Walters and Bedwell. “Any Lady having patterns of her own, which she may particularly fancy” they declared, “may have them done, tho’ but for a single gown.” They hoped such attention to even the smallest order would gain the approval of prospective customers.
In addition, Walters and Bedwell attempted to leverage their investment in their business to convince consumers that they had a responsibility to support their endeavor. They “have been at great expence in bringing this manufactory to America” for domestic production as an alternative to importing printed linens. Accordingly, they “hope they shall meet with encouragement” from customers who considered it their duty to put their political principles into practice in the marketplace. They also sought to entice “Ladies” (and gentlemen as well) with promises that “the prices they print for will make what they do come considerably cheaper than what comes from Europe.” Walters and Bedwell did their part for the American cause in establishing their “manufactory.” Now they needed consumers to rise to the occasion “to perpetuate the business in this country.” Adhering to the Continental Association created opportunities for both producers and consumers.