Milford chronicle., 1931-11-13
Shops And Ships In
WashingtOn's Time

SUODDlIS Ill LllG udy0 Vi GCOl
Washington If you wanted a new
beaver hat and six pairs of silk
stockings you sent an order to Rob
ert Cary and Company in London,
by the ship which left in May, and
might plan on receiving it in OctO-
ber, providing all went well on the
high seas.
Until about 1880, the shops had
been hodge-podge and the wares
meager, but about this time, the
first brilliant retail fancy dry-gOOds
shop in America was opened in
Philadelphia, according to the Uni
ted States George Washington BIZ
centennial Commission, by a Mr.
Whiteside from London, and in true
Bond Street style. 1t was at 1874
Market Street, and the uncommon
size of the panes of glass, the fine
null and jacOnet curtains, the
chintzes and linens suspended in
pieces or hanging festooned, the
shop-men behind the counter, bow
! ing and smiling, created for a time
a sensation. "Oriental luxury itself,
would not disdain the linen they
wear" wrote an observer of the
| times.
During the period that Philadel-
phia was the seat of government,
the arrival of the spring and fall
ships from London brought a scene
of great excitement and activity. On
the pavements all along Front
Street, from Arch to Walnut, boxes
o,,J hoIoe Of E1noIich dYHy- oOn1c Nuapn
scattered before the doors of impor-
ters. The clerks, apprentices and
subordinates of the merchants were
as busy as bees in their several vo-
cations, sCme with sharp knives and
hammers, ripping and break
ing open the packages and cases,
and others within doors exhibiting
the goods as statesmen, altogether
displaying a pleasant hustle of riv-
airy and competition.
The retailers, principally women
were lowering around, mingling
with the men, and viewing with ad-
miration the rich varieties of fore
ign chintzes, muslins, calicoes of |
the latest fashion.
All sums of money were computed |
in pounds, shillings, pence and far
things; dollars and cents were un-
used denominations except in the |
reports of Alexander Hamilton, Sec
retary of the Treasury.
In Colonial times, the invoices of
orders from the great plantations of
the south were of prodigious
length, as the needs were always
multifold. In George Washington's
own handwriting, may be seen in an
aging and yellowed manuscript in
the Congressional Library long
list of things wanted from England
for Mount Vernon, which included
such articles as ladies' bOnnets and
shoes, horse scissors, pounds of
white sugar candy, 25 pounds best
jar raisins, perfumed powder, 6
pounds at a time, medicines and
herbs. 1t took forethought and
planning to keep sup
plies on hand. Even then pur-
chaser might be doomed to disap-
for the perils of the sea
were very real in the 18th century.
The waters were alive with pirates
and privateers. Merchant vessels, of !
necessity went fully armed to de- ,
fend themselves against these mari
time marauders, and the men-Of-war
of hostile nations.
A merchant of that time was a Z
as well, and his snip
was his place of business. Small I
sailing vessels, many of which were Z
put into ports on the
whim of the vessels master, with 1
1ut attracting the attention which IS
given the movements of ships today
with cable, wireless and radio. {
The logs of the old merchant ships
If Salem show that they sometimes
proceeded without a definite sched- :
lie, their direction often being de-
.ermined by the winds and the wea-
her, or the news picked up from I
passing vessels.
The same trend in events which
brought handsome, well regulated Z
hop to Philadelphia guided the
course of events in Boston and New
York, where shops soon took their 8
pattern from the pretentiOus ex-
lmple set in the capital by Mr. g
Vhiteside of London. 3
Before this, the shops everywhere
n this country had been known by &
he signs over their doors. In Bos- y
on, for instance, every business &
treet was an endless succession of 4
-olden balls, blue gloves, crowns q
cepters, dogs and rainbows, ele- 6
hants and horse-shoes. These also Z
erved as advertisements for the {
usiness, although at first they /
ore no relation to it. Within, one 4
Ound crimson Velvets from Genoa, G
ilks from China, linens from Ire 8
and, rich damasks and cambrics q
rom England, bonnets, gatherings, &
est patterns and figured silk 3
loaks. .
In New York the first shops were Z
long Dock Street, and Queen q
treet. Some of the earliest shop 8
eepers who dealt in European and Z
ndia goods were the Beekmans. q
The shop-owners and merchants =
f Salem, chief of which was the
erby family, took cargoes of fish q
, Cadiz and Malaga exchanging for z
il, fruit, handkerchiefs, molasses, {,
)ffee and spices. In fact their feet &c
ships sailed the Seven Seas. Z,
The lesser towns scattered from E,
to New London were SC
irving and populous. Their proXi- {,
ity to water made them great y
aiding and fishing ports. But be- y
re the Revolution scarcely one (;