Published May 1976 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Newspaper Ads and History Newspapers, as everyone knows, played an important part in our nation's founding. But what some people may not realize is that the advertisements in colonial journals were as historically significant as the news columns. On May 8, 1704, the Boston News Letter carried the first ad, which sought to sell or lease a Long Island estate. And when America's first daily newspaper, the Pennsylvania Packet & Advertiser, began operations on September 24, 1784, 10 of its 16 columns were devoted to ads. Benjamin Franklin, of course, was very ad-conscious, and his Pennsylvania Gazette regularly carried offers for medicine, sugar, tea, cotton, wool, hardware, false teeth, and dance lessons. Most of the ads were written by Franklin himself, who introduced bigger headlines in his advertising columns long before he used the innovation for news stories. Even George Washington wrote and responded to ads. In an effort to sell some property, Washington placed an ad in the Maryland Advocate & Commercial Advertiser, in which he wrote of "the luxuriance of the soil, convenience to river transportation, and the inevitable rise in value if a new government is established." And he frequently bought cloth for h i m s e I f and his wife through ads which appeared in New York newspapers. But ads were not only important to commerce in the colonies; they were also important to the cause of independence. Much of the recruiting of soldiers for the Revolutionary War was done t h r o u g h newspaper ads, many of which carried George Washington's name prominently. One typical ad invited "all brave, healthy, able-bodied young men" to join "George Washington for the defence of the liberties and independence." And an ad aimed at raising a navy of privateers called for "all those jolly fellows who love their country to repair immediately to Governor Hancock's wharf." The recruitment ads told of "liberal and generous encouragement" to enlist, namely "a bounty of twelve dollars and an annual and fully sufficient supply of handsome clothing, together with sixty dollars a year in gold." There was also mention of the opportunity "to spend a few happy years seeing this beautiful continent." Colonial newspapers, like modern ones, survived because of the advertisements they carried. And together with the editorial columns of our early papers, they helped the nation itself to survive. May 5 1976