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ABSTRACT
Nearly thirty years ago, Richard Bushman argued that ‘somewhere in their makeup, even small shops bore the seeds of mighty changes.’ In the three decades since Bushman’s claim, historians and material culture scholars have demonstrated that Anglo-American colonists were thoroughly enmeshed in the so-called ‘consumer revolution’ and the importance of consumer spaces to that process. However, because few colonial shops survive, the ‘makeup’ of eighteenth-century retail spaces – their layout and design, and the influence of these on consumer practices – has not been fully understood, particularly for pre-Revolutionary Boston. Weaving together textual fragments and surviving material objects, this article re-materializes and re-populates the shop where the middling merchant-shopkeeper Samuel Abbot worked between 1758 and 1769 and contextualizes it in reference to both colonial and metropolitan British spaces. Taking a micro-history approach, this article contributes to the literature on the physical spaces in which goods changed hands in colonial North America by adding Boston to studies of colonial retail spaces.
KEYWORDS:
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Simon Middleton, Nicholas Popper, Phillip Emanuel, Annie Powell, Brock Jobe, Richie Garrison, the participants of the CUNY Early American Republic Seminar, and the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Abbot, Personal Accounts for shop, house, stock, bridge, and turnpike, 1754–1806, mss: 761 1754–1819 A122, 1; The Boston Gazette and Country Journal, iss 166, 5 June 1758, 3.
2 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 1; The Boston Gazette, iss 166, 5 June 1758, 3.
3 In his first shop Abbot appears to have accepted both cash and work in kind for goods. For instance, blacksmith Jonathan Daskin exchanged his labor making and repairing Abbot’s scales for a variety of textiles and Alexander Edwards, a local joiner, made Abbot a desk with drawers in exchange for thread, buttons, and fabric. For the flow of business at his shop near the Mill Bridge see: Abbot, Samuel Abbot's Peatey[sic] Ledgger[sic] Began July 30, 1754, N.A.", Mss:761 1754–1819 A122, v. 6; Abbot, Personal Accounts, 1, 4.
4 The Boston Gazette, iss 189, 13 November 1758, 2.
5 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
6 Of the eleven pounds, fifteen shillings Abbot paid Cumber for painting, six pounds, twelve shillings was allocated to painting two glass cases and the edging of the shelves, three pounds, fifteen shillings was spent to paint the entire façade of the shop, and it cost one pound ten shillings to paint all the counters and drawers in the shop. In other words, a little over sixty percent of what he spent on painting went to cover the cost of Prussian Blue, which was significantly less square footage than the combination of the shop’s façade, counter, and drawers. Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
7 The records do not survive to know for certain what type of chair Abbot’s customers were seated on in his counting room. However, an inventory of Abbot’s shop written in 1775 when Abbot was transferring his goods to his stepson Samuel Kneeland’s stop lists round chairs, high chairs, flag bottom chairs, and wooden bottom chairs. It is likely that the chairs from his counting room are included in this inventory. See: Abbot, Inventory, mss:761 1754–1819 A122, Box 72, Folder 6. For discussion of Abbot’s purchases of locally crafted furniture see: Jobe, “The Boston Furniture Industry 1720–1740,” 3–48.
8 In 1758 Abbot listed two textile related goods in a list of fourteen goods. By 1759 he listed 127 different goods or types of goods, of which well over half were textiles. The Boston Gazette, iss 166, 5 June 1758, 3; The Boston Gazette, iss 198, 15 January 1759, 1.
9 For representative examples of this work see: Whitman Hunter, Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World; Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods; Hodge, Consumerism and the Emergence of the Middle Class in Colonial America; Hartigan O-Connor, The Ties That Buy; Bushman, “Shopping and Advertising in Colonial America”; Anishanslin, Portrait of a Woman in Silk; Hart, Trading Spaces.
10 The body of work that examines practices of shopping and retail spaces in England is too vast to list in its entirety here. Scholars have linked concepts of spatiality with those of luxury, politeness, fashion, and, increasingly, the senses to uncover retailing and shopping practices in England and, to a lesser extent, Scotland and Ireland. For representative examples see: Mui and Mui, Shops and Shopkeeping in Eighteenth-Century England; Walsh, “Shop Design and the Display of Goods in Eighteenth-Century London;” Cox, The Complete Tradesman; Benson and Ugolini, A Nation of Shopkeepers; Benson and Ugolini, Cultures of Selling; Walsh, “Shops, Shopping, and the Art of Decision Making in Eighteenth-Century England;” Cox and Danhehl, Perceptions of Retailing in Early Modern England; Stobart, Hann, and Morgan, Spaces of Consumption; Dyer, “Shopping and the Senses;” Dyer, ed, Shopping and the Senses, 1800–1970; Cox and Walsh, “Their Shops Are Dens, the Buyer Is Their Prey.”
11 Walsh, “Shop Design,” 157; Stobart, Hann, Morgan, Spaces of Consumption. For discussion of the ‘retail revolution’ and its relationship to the eighteenth-century shop see: Jeffreys, Retail Trading in Britain 1850–1950; Davis, A History of Shopping; Mathais, Retailing Revolution; Alexander, Retailing in England During the Industrial Revolution; Adburgham, Shopping in Style; Miller, The Bon Marche; Winstanley, The Shopkeeper’s World 1830–1914.
12 Bushman, “Shopping and Advertising,” 251, 236; Bushman, The Refinement of America, 358–6l; Carson, Face Value; McInnis and Mack, In Pursuit of Refinement; Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution, 118–21, 128–9.
13 Smart Martin, “Commercial Space as Consumption Arena”; Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods; Nelson, “The Falmouth House and Store;” Nelson, Architecture and Empire in Jamaica; Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties That Buy, 151–6; Hart, Trading Spaces.
14 Hart, Trading Spaces, 6.
15 Richard Bushman has noted that even in the seventeenth century Boston was ‘full of good shopps well furnished with all kinds of Merchandise.’ Bushman, “Shopping and Advertising,” 236.
16 Hart has examined commercial marketplaces in Pennsylvania and South Carolina but has not examined Boston. Hart, Trading Spaces.
17 The Boston Gazette, iss 396, 1 November 1762, 3; Matson and Hart, “Situating Merchants in Late Eighteenth-Century British Atlantic Port Cities,” 660.
18 Nash, The Urban Crucible, 1.
19 “The town of Boston in New England,” Boston and New England Maps. The 1722 Map was reissued in 1835 by George Girdler Smith. In this early nineteenth century map changes to the city are marked out in red (1722–1733), blue (1734–1743), and green (1743 and 1796).
20 “The town of Boston in New England.”.
21 Seasholes, Gaining Ground, 29–35 and Pitt, “Building and Outfitting Ships in Colonial Boston,” 881–907; Butterfield, ed., The Adams Papers: Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, vol 1, 81.
22 Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties That Buy, 15.
23 Ibid.
24 Thwing, The Crooked & Narrow Streets of the Town of Boston 1630–1822.
25 Hart, Building Charleston, 2.
26 Ibid.
27 The New-London Summary, or, The Weekly Advertiser, 23 January 1761.
28 New-London Summary, 23 January 1761.
29 The Boston Evening Post, iss 1325, 19 January 1761, 3.
30 Blair St. George, “Afterthoughts on ‘Material Life in America, 1600–1800’,” 18.
31 Nelson, Architecture and Empire in Jamaica, 159.
32 Ibid., 177, 180.
33 Borsay, The English Urban Renaissance; Stobart, Hann, and Morgan, Spaces of Consumption, 92.
34 Nelson, Architecture and Empire in Jamaica, 181.
35 Blair St. George, “Afterthoughts on ‘Material Life in America, 1600–1800’,” 33.
36 Herman, Town House, 3.
37 Ibid., 2.
38 Hancock, Citizens of the World, 88.
39 Talbot, “Middle-ranking Household Food Acquisition,” 3.
40 Berg, Luxury and Pleasure in Eighteenth-Century Britain, 257.
41 Between 1750 and 1773 imports of new luxury and semi-luxury goods to the colonies rose 120 percent. Breen, “Baubles of Britain.”
42 Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods, 146.
43 Hart, Trading Places, 1–9.
44 Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods.
45 Ibid., 145–54.
46 Ibid., 147.
47 Ibid., 145–72.
48 Hart, “A British Atlantic World of Advertising? Colonial American ‘For Sale’ Notices in Comparative Context;” Hart, Trading Places, 78–81; Morgan, “Beyond the Boundaries of the Shop.”
49 Broadsides, trade cards, and decorative bill heads, for instance, were far more common in London than they were in colonial North America. The British Museum’s collection of trade cards highlights the depth and range of printed advertisements that circulated in London in the eighteenth century.
50 Hart, “A British Atlantic World of Advertising?” 114.
51 Morgan, “Beyond the Boundaries of the Shop,” 62.
52 Hart, Trading Places, 80. For other work on proxy shopping see: Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy; Hartigan-O’Connor, “Collaborative Consumption and the Politics of Choices in Early American Port Cities;” Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods; Henderson, “A Family Affair”.
53 Morgan, “Beyond the Boundaries of the Shop,” 79. While I only discuss advertising briefly in this article, Abbot advertised extensively and kept meticulous records for what he spent on advertising. See: Abbot, Personal Accounts, 9, 30.
54 The Boston Gazette, 15 January 1759, iss 198, 1.
55 The Boston Gazette, 15 January 1759, iss 198, 1.
56 The Boston Gazette, 15 January 1759, iss 198, 1.
57 Morgan, “Beyond the Boundaries of the Shop,” 77.
58 This inference is drawn from the integrated nature of Abbot’s records for the expenses for his house and shop, with purchases for both listed not only in the same book, but often on the same page, with expenses for each interspersed.
59 The Boston Gazette, 7 June 1762.
60 The Boston Gazette, 29 September 1766.
61 My thanks to Richie Garrison for his insight into the typical layout of Boston shops.
62 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 14–16.
63 Stobart, Hann, and Morgan, Spaces of Consumption, 117; Nelson, Architecture and Empire in Jamaica, 162–8
64 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
65 Moss, ed., Paint in America, 23–5.
66 My thanks to Richie Garrison for his insights into the façade of early Boston shops. Comparative examples for this type of design can be found at Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Christina Hodge has studied the design of Elizabeth Pratt’s Newport, Rhode Island shop, which similarly had a pair of large windows on the shop’s façade. Hodge, Consumerism and the Emergence of the Middle Class in Colonial America, 128.
67 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
68 My thanks to Peter Hudson for explaining the construction of sash doors.
69 Abbot, Personal Accounts.
70 Information for this paragraph about the façade of the shop is drawn from Abbot, Personal Accounts.
71 Walsh, Shop Design; Nelson, Architecture and Empire in Jamaica, 175–7
72 Cox, The Complete Tradesman, 80.
73 Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods, 151.
74 Ibid., 146.
75 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
76 Ibid.
77 Ibid., 14.
78 Walsh, “Shop Design and the Display of Goods,” 160.
79 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 13.
80 For discussion of colonial pigments see Moss, Paint in America.
81 Elijah Eldridge Diary, Doc. 0766–65×541, Downs Collection, Winterthur Museum and Library; “Processes for making the best and finest Sort of PRUSSIAN BLUE with QUICK-LIME.” Universal Magazine of Knowledge & Pleasure. Jun1762, Vol. 30 Issue 210, 300–1. 2p. American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1 Accession Number 33739642
82 My thanks to Matthew Webster for sharing his knowledge of the value and status of Prussian blue in architectural spaces in the British North American colonies.
83 Boston’s Old Church chose to paint the irons used to hang their bass chandeliers Prussian blue, while the Long Gallery and Apollo Room were both painted with the blue pigment. Welsh, “Particle Characteristics of Prussian Blue in an Historical Oil Paint,” 55–63.
84 Information for this paragraph about the façade of the shop is drawn from Abbot, Personal Accounts.
85 Tickell, Shoplifting in Eighteenth-Century England.
86 Abbot, Personal Accounts.
87 Dyer, “Shopping and the Senses;” Dyer, ed, Shopping and the Senses.
88 Abbot, Personal Accounts, 22. In 1762 Abbot paid to have forty-five yards of 'lead coller’ applied to one of the rooms of the building. Given how this purchase is grouped in the records, and the fact that we know the shop itself was whitewashed rather than painted with a lead color, it is possible that this paint was used in the counting room.
89 The provenance for this piece provided in the auction catalogue put together by Skinner states that it ‘descended in the family from Samuel Abbot, Esq. (1732–1812) of Andover, Massachusetts.’ It also dates the piece to c. 1760–1780 and notes that it was made in Massachusetts. Samuel Abbot retired to Andover following the American Revolution and as part of his move to Andover, Abbot transferred his commercial goods to his stepson William Kneeland. Both facts substantiate the claim that this desk belonged to Abbot. It is harder to know if this specific desk was kept in his counting room rather than a domestic space. However, surviving evidence suggests that it may have been in Abbot’s shop rather than in his home. In the inventory taken in January of 1775, a desk is listed as ‘a Desk w Draws&c.’ This desk is listed alongside items including ‘tin canisters,’ a ‘glass case,’ and ‘a large press,’ all of which were used to display goods in Abbot’s shop. Further, the inventory specifically lists that these goods were to be transferred to Kneeland’s shop rather than his home. The surviving inventories taken for Abbot’s house are not dated so it is not possible to know if they were taken at the same time, but the inventories of his domestic space do not mention a desk. This further suggests that this desk may have been in his counting room and not his home. As the 1775 inventory does not contain values, it is difficult to match the cost of the item to the fineness of the piece and it is currently held in a private collection which has not allowed for direct study of the desk. However, the date range provided by Skinner for this piece would mean that Abbot likely purchased this desk during his time as a merchant in Boston rather than after he retired to Andover. Further, while the wood used in this piece – mahogany – could suggest it was too fine a piece to be used in a counting room, Gerald Ward has identified a mahogany desk that was used by the Hancock family in their counting room. It is hoped that by bringing this desk to light in this article, further research can be done to discover its movement within the Abbot-Kneeland family and more evidence can be uncovered to substantiate the claim that it may have been one of the key pieces of furniture in Abbot’s counting room on Wing’s Lane, “Chippendale Mahogany Carved Block-front Slant-lid Desk,” Auctions, Skinner Auctioneers and Appraisers, accessed Jan 23, 2018, https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2144/lots/400; Thaler, “Samuel Abbot’: The Psychology of a Colonial Merchant;” Richards, Evans, Cooper, and Podmaniczky. New England Furniture at Winterthur; Jobe and Ward, Boston Furniture, 1700–1900; Ward, “The Merchants’ Real Friend and Companion,” 168.
90 Hancock, Citizens of the World, 100–2; Smart Martin, “Commercial Spaces as Consumption Arena,” 208–10; Ward, “The Merchants’ Real Friend and Companion,” 167–70.
91 Hancock, Citizens of the World, 102; Vickery, Behind Closed Doors; At Home in Georgian England, 180–2.
92 Abbot, Inventory of Sundries Sent to Mr Kneeland’s Store.
93 Abbot, Inventory.
94 Ibid.
95 Ibid.
96 Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy, 130; Kowalski-Wallace, Consuming Subjects, 91–2.
97 Dyer, Material Lives, 11.
98 Ibid.
99 Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy, 130–1.
100 A notable exception to this is Sarah Kemble Knight’s account of her 1704 travels between Boston and New York. See Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods, 155–7.
101 For discussion of shopping networks and proxy shopping see: Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods:; Hartigan-O’Connor, “Collaborative Consumption and the Politics of Choices in Early American Port Cities;” Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy; Henderson, “A Family Affair.”
102 Abbot, An Account of Stock and What I am Worth, mss:761 1754–1819 A122, Box 50, Folder 4.
103 Abbot, Samuel Abbot's Cash book Began January 1, 1761, mss:761 A122, v. 9.
104 Vickery, The Gentleman’s Daughter, 183; Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties That Buy, 129–60.
105 Abbot, Samuel Abbot's Memorandum Book, July 30, 1754 … All Accounts is Crossed Out of this book, 1756, mss:761 1754–1819 A122, v. 3B.
106 White, “Letter from John White to Samuel Abbot,” Samuel Abbot – Inland Letters -1756.
107 White, “Letter from John White.”
108 Abbot, Inland letters, mss:761 1754–1819 A122, Box 38, Folder 10.
109 Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy, 129–60.
110 Ibid., 132.
111 Abbot’s account books contain evidence that he enslaved at least two men, January Alias and Bristol, who was eighteen at the time that Abbot enslaved him. He is further complicit in this system as he employed ‘boys’ enslaved by Samuel Turner, a carpenter. Abbot, Personal Accounts, 15, 16, 29.
112 Abbot, Inland letters.
113 For discussion of the role of bibles in practices of early American genealogy see Karin Wulf’s forthcoming Lineage.
114 Dyer, Material Lives, 9–14; Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties the Buy, 147.
115 Abbot, Letter to Samuel Abbot from Nathan Torzin, 30 June 1760.
116 Abbot, Letter to Samuel Abbot.
117 Abbot, Letter to Samuel Abbot from Samuel Emmerson, 20 March 1761.
118 While proxy networks could extend beyond the family, Hartigan-O’Connor has shown that family and friends were often the first layer of an individual’s shopping network. Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties the Buy, 131.
119 Claxton and Welch, “Chintz, China, and Chocolate,” 253–76.
120 Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods, 154.
121 Hancock, Citizens of the World; Muldrew, The Economy of Obligation; Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties that Buy; Hughes Dayton, Women Before the Bar.
122 Jobe, “The Boston Furniture Industry 1720–1740.”
123 Smart Martin, “Commercial Space as Consumption Arena”
124 Hardesty, Unfreedom; Hardesty, Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds.
125 Sowande’ M. Mustakeem, Slavery at Sea; Stephanie Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery.
126 All of the information on the purchases made by Peag (Peagg) can be found in Abbot, Samuel Abbot's Memorandum Book.
127 Dyer, Material Lives, 9–14; Hartigan-O’Connor, The Ties the Buy, 147.
128 Abbot, Samuel Abbot's Memorandum Book.
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Alexandra M. Macdonald
Alexandra M. Macdonald is a PhD candidate at William & Mary. She is currently the Barra Material Culture Fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.