To Suit the Times: Advertisement and the Panic of 1857

In the closing days of 1857, the Independent, a Congregationalist weekly paper reflected on the year in economics. "The year," the paper writes, "may be divided into two parts-... this first ending in August, when bank expansion reached its height; and the latter part ending now, when the weakness natural to the experience of so severe a reverse from the breaking of the bubble expansion of all credits is still severely felt.[1]" The second part to which the article refers is the Panic of 1857. Beginning in August of that year with the failure of an Ohio investment house, the crisis spread rapidly over new telegraph wires and led to worldwide "business failures and slowdowns that threw thousands out of work.[2]" The Panic is vividly demonstrated in the advertisement section of the Independent, a weekly Congregationalist paper published in New York. The advertisements change not only in number, but also in type and tactic.

The paper was initially reluctant to officially recognize the presence of an economic Panic, editorializing on August 27^th, 1857 that "[3]" The sheer numbers of business failures before and after the Panic strongly suggest otherwise. Between August 13^th and 20^th, there are listed only 51 business closures and suspensions[4]. The next week's edition which breaks the news of "the failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company, announced on Monday" lists 56 of the same[5]. News articles appear in this month citing first a "much depressed' stock market[6] and then "about six thousand... cotton looms that have been stopped in New England.[7]" Around this time, advertisements begin appearing from lawyers assuring readers that "the insolvent of 1847 [8]" The panic was in full-swing.

A statistical comparison of advertisements before and after the Panic (using the July 30^th and December 31^st issues) suggests a strong correlation between the panic and the number of adverts. As to sheer numbers, advertisements decrease from 85 in the July 30^th edition to 69 in December 31^st's, or a decrease of nearly one fifth[9]. As it is in a newspaper's best interest to maintain both paying subscribers and advertisers, it is not surprising that The Independent initially refused to acknowledge the panic, writing that "reports of stock transactions... represent only temporary fluctuations of one or two kinds of property, the value of which, as regards use, is not affected" and that "the wealth of the country is not to be measured by money.[10]" The Independent continues to reassure the public that while "[11]" And yet, Faragher writes that "the major cause of the panic was a sharp... downturn in agricultural exports.[12]"

As stated before, however, the numbers proved otherwise, as did the very types of products and services being advertised. Advertisements for medical products declined by almost half. Domestic product advertisements declined from fifteen to five. Offers of employment decreased from six to two. Cosmetics, while constituting four ads on July 30^th, were completely absent on December 31^st of the same year[13]. Water Cure spas, products, and journals through five advertisements in July "the means of cure for all classes of invalids[14]" were nowhere to be found two months later. With the tightening of belts occurring during the panic, it seems that the market set aside many ephemeral, inconsequential, or ineffective products, service, and remedies.

These changes are shown not only through the decrease in the medical, cosmetic, and domestic areas, but also through an increase in advertisements in other fields. Advertisements for educational products and institutions increased from five to ten and ads for various periodicals and books rose from eleven to fifteen[15]. Furthermore, the market also played on the hopes of individuals in the form of get rich quick schemes promising under bold headlines of "GETTING RICH" that "every lady or gentleman desiring a pleasant money-making occupation to apply,[16]" or the brief and somewhat cryptic advert that "a grand enterprise on a new plan [is] the best chance to make money ever offered.[17]" The New York and Harlem Railroad was so desperate as to "fund the floating debt of this company, amounting to nearly $750,000... [with] the purchase of bonds, redeemable in ten years and bearing seven per cent.[18]"The clergy, too, felt the Panic when "the pews and single seats in the Plymouth Church [were] sold... at public auction.[19]" Even the offices of The Independent were affected by the economic downturn. In order to make up for lost revenues, the publisher Joseph Ladd opened up a "job printing establishment... attached to the office of The Independent.[20]"

Beyond the shift in types of goods and services advertised, there was also a clear and marked change in the language and tactic of advertisements. Before the panic, one could witness several tactics in use. Medical adverts would claim that their product's effectiveness "has no equal[21]" or employ the use of testimonials "offering a word in [the] favor" of whatever treatment the ad hawks. Other advertisements employed the bandwagon approach with one ad for crackers citing "commendatory remarks of parents, teachers, and physicians.[22]" These tactics are standard fare even amongst today's newspaper advertisements.

However, there was one very conspicuous absence from the July 30^th issue of The Independent. Very few adverts in the July issue stress value, discount, or thrift. This de-emphasis of price-awareness is made very clear when juxtaposed against the December 31^stIndependent. Clothing advertisements proclaim "astonishingly low price[s][23]" and "extra cheap goods[24]" with reductions as great as fifty per cent. Instrument retailers offer "pianos and Melodeons at lower prices than ever before,[25]" and the famous Steinway & Sons manufacturers advertised that their pianos "be sold at greatly reduced prices to suit the times.[26] Book clearinghouses launched campaigns where "valuable presents [were] distributed among those persons in each and every state and territory who shall hereafter purchase or order from JR Stafford's Family Recipt Book.[27]" Those who subscribed to the United States Journal, a "popular pictorial monthly," were promised "articles of jewelry of all prices from 25 cents to $100 each.[28]"

Whether interested in liquidating their stores to pay debts or enticing a consumer market grown stagnant by the Panic, it is clear that the discounts, the changes in marketing tactics, and the shifts in goods and services advertised can be directly correlated to the economic events of 1857. The consequences of the Panic were felt worldwide, with The Independent reporting over sixty British business closures in December[29]. Indeed, "the capitalist and the laborer... both felt the blow[30]" of the Panic of 1857, as did the advertisements page of The Independent.

[1] "The Close of the Year 1857," The Independent 31 December 1857: 4

[2] Faragher, John, et al. Out of Many. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006: 389

[3] "The Wealth of the Country" The Independent 27 August 1857: 3

[4] "Failures, Assignments, &c." The Independent 13 & 20 August 1857: 4

[5] "Failures, Assignments, &c" The Independent 27 August 1857: 4

[6] "Stocks." The Independent 20 August 1857: 3

[7] "Mills Stopped" The Independent 27 August 1857: 3

[8] "Suspended Debts" The Independent27 August 1857: 4

[9] Advertisements The Independent30 July 1857 & 31 December 1857

[10] "The Wealth of the Country" The Independent 27 August 1857: 3

[11] Ibid.

[12] Faragher, John, et al. Out of Many. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006: 389

[13] Advertisements The Independent30 July 1857 & 31 December 1857

[14] Dr. Taylor's Water-Cure and Kinesipathic Institution, advertisement, The Independent 31 Dec. 1857: 7

[15] Advertisements The Independent30 July 1857 & 31 December 1857

[16] Getting Rich, advertisement, The Independent 31 December: 6

[17] A Grand Enterprise on a New Plan, advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[18] New York and Harlem Railroad Company, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[19] Pew Renting, , advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[20] The Independent Steam Job Printing Office, advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[21] Perry Davis's Vegetable Pain Killer, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[22] Wing's Farina Crackers, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[23] Holiday Gaiters, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[24] Adams, 591 Broadway, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[25] Pianos, Melodeons, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[26] Gold Medal Grand and Square Pianos, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[27] Family Sewing Machines, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[28] Novel and Extraordinary, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[29] Failures in Great Britain, Advertisement, The Independent 31 December 1857: 6

[30] "The Close of the Year 1857," The Independent 31 December 1857: 4