To the Ladies

June 3

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

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

Providence Gazette (June 3, 1775).

“POLLY and LUCY ALLEN, from Boston.”

On June 3, 1775, Polly Allen and Lucy Allen published an advertisement addressed “To the LADIES” in the Providence Gazette.  That notice served as an introduction upon their arrival in the city, informing prospective customers and the community that “all Kinds of Millenary and Mantuamaking are performed by them, at their House on the West Side of the Great Bridge.”  Since the Allens were new to town, they gave further directions that stated their location relative to a resident familiar to readers, stating that they could be found “next door to Amos Atwell’s, Esq.”  New on the scene, they could not rely on their reputation among an established clientele to generate business.  Instead, they assured prospective customers that they made hats and garments “in the neatest and genteelest Manner, and at the cheapest Rates.”  In addition to skillful work on fashionable clothing at the lowest prices, the Allens also pledged exemplary customer service, stating that “all who are pleased to favour them with their Custom may depend on being well used.”

As part of their introduction, the Allens described themselves as “from Boston.”  That made them refugees, of sorts, who had been displaced during the first weeks of the Revolutionary War.  Following the battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19, militias from throughout Massachusetts, joined by companies from other colonies, besieged Boston.  The Massachusetts Provincial Congress, meeting in Watertown, negotiated with General Thomas Gage, the governor, to allow Loyalists who wished to enter the city to do so.  In return, Patriots and other “Inhabitants of the Town of Boston” could leave.  In each case, they could take their effects with them, “excepting their Fire-Arms and Ammunition.”  The Allens apparently took advantage of safe passage out of the city, along with between 12.000 and 13,000 other residents.  When they introduced themselves in the Providence Gazette as “POLLY and LUCY ALLEN, from Boston,” they did not need to say more for readers to piece together why they chose to relocate at that moment.  The Allens may have hoped that their situation would evoke some sympathy among prospective customers or even some curiosity among those who wanted to hear for themselves what conditions had been like since the Boston Port Act closed the harbor a year earlier and, especially, during the siege in recent weeks.  Some clients may have headed to the Allens’ shop in hope of stories as well as new hats and dresses.

January 26

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

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

Pennsylvania Journal (January 26, 1774).

“THOMAS & MARY GRIFFITH, Are removed from Christian-street, to … Sixth-street.”

When Thomas Griffith and Mary Griffith took the pages of the Pennsylvania Gazette at the end of January 1774, they incorporated the same headline they used in their advertisement the previous August.  They promoted their services “TO THE LADIES” of Philadelphia and nearby towns, Thomas his “FAN-MAKING business” and Mary cleaning various kinds of laces “to look like new.  The Griffiths had recently “removed from Christian-street” and now operated their businesses on Sixth Street, occasioning the new advertisement.

Despite deploying the same headline, this notice was shorter than the other one.  Perhaps the Griffiths felt that they had established their reputations in Philadelphia and did not need to provide as much information for a clientele that they wished to follow them to their new location as they had when they introduced themselves upon arriving in a new city.  Thomas had described himself as a “Fan-Maker from London, but last from Charlestown,” but did not do so in the new advertisement, nor did he go into any detail except to say that he “intends to continue the FAN-MAKING business in general.”  Similarly, Mary provided only a brief overview, but did not mention her “new method” for cleaning laces to entice prospective customers.  The Griffiths did “return thanks to the Ladies for the encouragement they received,” another suggestion that they had cultivated a clientele over the last six months.

The secondary headline for their new advertisement included both their names, “THOMAS & MARY GRIFFITH,” whereas Thomas’s name alone ran as the secondary headline in their other advertisement.  This time, Mary’s contribution to the household economy received the same visibility as Thomas’s “FAN-MAKING business,” though his enterprise still received top billing.  It may have been that publishing a shorter advertisement prompted this change, though the Griffiths may have also realized that Mary’s enterprise brought as many or more of “THE LADIES” to the shop in their house as the fans that Thomas made and sold.  Whatever convinced them to take a new approach, they apparently considered their previous newspaper advertisements effective enough to merit investing in a new advertisement when they moved to a new location.