{"id":7102,"date":"1950-03-05T00:42:12","date_gmt":"1950-03-05T04:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/specialcollections\/?p=7102"},"modified":"1950-03-05T00:42:12","modified_gmt":"1950-03-05T04:42:12","slug":"lt058","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/1950\/03\/05\/lt058\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Script #58"},"content":{"rendered":"

Little Talks On Common Things
\nMarch 5, 1950On this program we have covered quite an expanse of time in our reference\u00a0to old time things. We have gone all the way from the building of Fort Halifax\u00a0in <\/em>1754 to the tearing down of the Waterville Armory in 1950, with many stopoffs\u00a0in between.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Tonight let us give attention to an item whose existence began just 150\u00a0years ago in 1802. It is the day book or journal kept by an Augusta merchant\u00a0of that time. It is now owned by Mr. Burleigh Nichols of Fairfield Center, who\u00a0has kindly loaned it to me. So fascinating have I found it that I have been\u00a0through every one of its more than 300 pages.<\/p>\n

The original owner and writer of the journal’s items has not yet been definitely\u00a0identified by name, but I hope Mr. Nichols and I will soon be able to\u00a0tell you who he is. Unfortunately a later generation has used about fifty\u00a0pages of the journal as a scrap hook, mostly for poems clipped from the newspapers\u00a0of the 1870’s and 1880’s. What is worse, the first pages are entirely\u00a0missing, probably torn out by some careless hand many years ago. The first\u00a0page bearing a readable date is that for Wednesday, March 10, 1802; but it\u00a0and subsequent pages are so covered with pasted scrap-book clippings that no\u00a0page is clear with all its original items until that for Tuesday, August 31,\u00a01802.<\/p>\n

Whether the proprietor began his business in that year or whether there\u00a0were preceding journals for the same business we do not know. In any event\u00a0the entries from August, 1802 until May, 1810, when the journal ends, are alive\u00a0with interest. Here is no dead record of business transactions; here, rather,\u00a0is real source history of the Kennebec Valley a century and a half ago.<\/p>\n

Take for instance the matter of money and currency. From 1802 to 1805\u00a0every item is recorded at a rate in shillings and pence, then carried out as\u00a0dollars and cents. For instance:<\/p>\n

2 Ibs. coffee @ 1\/10 $ .60<\/p>\n

i Ibs. tea @ 6\/3 .28<\/p>\n

2 gal. molasses @ 3\/6 1.16<\/p>\n

3! yd. india cotton @ 1\/3 .82<\/p>\n

2 Ibs. tobacco @ 1\/2! .40<\/p>\n

2 Ibs. sugar @ \/10 .28<\/p>\n

On the larger items we have no trouble figuring out this merchant’s rate of\u00a0exchange. When he lists 3 yd. linen @ 3\/ and carries out the total as $1.50,\u00a0and when he lists 2 BOY’s Hats @ 6\/ and enters the total as $2.00, it takes\u00a0no mathematical wizard to see that he figures the rate at six shillings to a\u00a0dollar. But, on the smaller items, he either didn’t stick to his rate or\u00a0he got bogged down in arithmetic, because he variously totals 1\/6 as 24, 25\u00a0and 26 cents. As a general rule, however, he seems to have computed a single\u00a0shilling as 17 cents which, of course, is the nearest whole cent to one sixth\u00a0of a dollar. Ten pence was usually entered as 14 cents, and roughly one penny\u00a0was thought of as 1 1\/3 cents, or 4 cents for 3 pence.<\/p>\n

We have already placed this old general store in space. It was somewhere\u00a0on the west bank of the Kennebec River along what is now Water street in Augusta.<\/p>\n

Now let us place it in time, for the mere date 1802 doesn’t mean much\u00a0to many of us.<\/p>\n

Everyone knows something about Abraham Lincoln, and many of you know\u00a0that he once ran a general store in partnership with another man in New Salem,\u00a0Illinois. That was in 1831, when Lincoln was 22 years old. And Abraham Lincoln,\u00a0after a career that made him the best loved of all American presidents,\u00a0has now been dead for 85 years.<\/p>\n

Just let this sink in. The old store in Augusta which we are talking\u00a0about tonight was being operated and the journal entries in the old account\u00a0book to which I refer were being made, not only 29 years before Lincoln ran\u00a0that frontier store in New Salem, but actually seven years before Abraham\u00a0Lincoln was born.<\/p>\n

When these charges were recorded against householders in the Kennebec\u00a0Valley, George Washington had been dead less than three years. John Adams\u00a0was President of the united States. For 18 more years Maine would still be a\u00a0part of Massachusetts. In the very year when these accounts began, Waterville\u00a0had achieved its incorporation as an independent town. Maine’s oldest college,\u00a0Bowdoin, was eight years old; the charter for the second college, Colby,\u00a0was eleven years in the future. Deacon Barrows and Elder John Tripp at Hebron\u00a0were just beginning the plans which resulted in the founding of Hebron Academy\u00a0two years later. There were no railroads, no steamboats, and very few turnpiked\u00a0highways. Travel was by sail, clumsy cart or springless coach, by horseback or\u00a0on foot. It took a long time and favorable wind to bring goods from the outside\u00a0world to the wharves at Augusta.<\/p>\n

Such is the time when those old accounts were made. What did this old-time\u00a0merchant sell? In spite of the fact that it was a general store, as\u00a0were all stores of the time in places so small as Augusta then was, and though\u00a0there is wide variety in the items, their total number is not numerous. The\u00a0range of things that Kennebec people could buy in 1802 was very narrow indeed.<\/p>\n

The accounts carry many mentions of molasses, sugar,. salt, coffee, tea\u00a0and raisins; but through the first ten years of entries there are exactly\u00a0three mentions of flour. There are several charges of wheat and Indian corn,\u00a0an occasional bushel of rye, but flour was apparently a scarce and little\u00a0purchased commodity. In 1805 N. Malborn was charged with two hundredweight,\u00a0three quarters, and 26, pounds of flour for a total of $11.94. We figure\u00a0this out to be 301, pounds, or a little more than 1, barrels, as we measured\u00a0flour a century later in 1902. The price was therefore approximately eight\u00a0dollars a barrel. In fact, when sold in small quantities, the price was\u00a0nearly at the same rate, for we find a charge of 16 pounds of flour for 64\u00a0cents.<\/p>\n

In 1802 most of the clothes were made at home, on cloth from the spinning\u00a0wheels and hand looms, often from wool grown on the home farm. But this\u00a0account book reveals that as early as the dawn of the 19th century people of\u00a0the Kennebec Valley were beginning to buy cloth and sometimes whole garments\u00a0from the store. On November IS, 1802, for instance, Nathaniel Page of Belgrade\u00a0went on quite a splurge. Perhaps he took his wife on this trip to Augusta. At\u00a0least we like to think she went along and had the decisive voice in the selection\u00a0of the following items charged on that day to Nathaniel’s account:<\/p>\n

3 yards ribbed velvet $ 4.50<\/p>\n

1 yard satin 1.85<\/p>\n

2 skeins silk and 2 of thread .25<\/p>\n

2 yards india cloth .29<\/p>\n

i yard sheeting .25<\/p>\n

7 buttons .24<\/p>\n

1 pair morocco shoes 1.17<\/p>\n

In fact on that trip from Belgrade to the Augusta store on that November\u00a0day 150 years ago, Nathaniel Page bought and had charged just one item for\u00a0himself. It was an axe for 11 shillings’ 3 pence, or $1.87.\u00a0While some of the prices were very high by modern comparison, others\u00a0strike ~s as inconceivably low. Just consider a few of them while your mouth\u00a0waters:<\/p>\n

9 lb. 10 oz. cheese @ \/8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 $ 1.07<\/p>\n

1 quarter lamb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .27<\/p>\n

1 dozen eggs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .09<\/p>\n

4; lb. butter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .59<\/p>\n

1 turkey, 6; lb.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .46<\/p>\n

1 goose, 6 lb. 6 oz.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .35<\/p>\n

1 cord wood\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.50<\/p>\n

10 lb. sheeps wool\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .63<\/p>\n

1 M shingles\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .95<\/p>\n

3 “segars”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .03<\/p>\n

18 lb. dry fish\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .36<\/p>\n

13; lb. veal\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .65<\/p>\n

By contrast consider these prices of 1802:<\/p>\n

1 nutmeg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .12<\/p>\n

lb. chocolate\u00a0 .41<\/p>\n

1 lemon\u00a0 .10<\/p>\n

i lb. pepper\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .29<\/p>\n

6 yds. forest cloth @ 12\/\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12.00<\/p>\n

The commonest ready-made article charged in these accounts was the shawl,\u00a0for which the usual price was $1.17, but occasionally the camel’s hair variety\u00a0sold for as high as $3.00. Next in number to shawls were hats, but with\u00a0one possible exception they were men’s hats, selling from 75 cents to $1.75.\u00a0That one exception is <\/em>the charge for 1 straw bonnet, $1.00. Of course the\u00a0word bonnet may have been used for men’s straw hats, but if so I have never\u00a0before encountered it.<\/p>\n

The three commonest items in the old journal, repeated again and again,\u00a0are cheese, rum and gingerbread. Yes, I said gingerbread. The storekeeper apparently\u00a0bought it in huge sheets from Thomas Dexter, who is <\/em>repeatedly credited\u00a0with the amount of $1.00 for 8 sheets of gingerbread. The storekeeper\u00a0then sold it for 18 to 20 cents a sheet. Time and again a customer is <\/em>charged\u00a0for just three items: cheese, gingerbread and rum. He had ridden horseback or\u00a0walked a long way to the store. When he got there he was hungry. He bought\u00a0gingerbread and cheese, and washed it down with the commonest beverage of\u00a0the day — rum. The sales of rum are revealing of the old measures. While a\u00a0quart was one-fourth of a gallon as it is today, and a pint was one-half of\u00a0a quart, a gill was not one-fourth, but was rather one-half, of a pint. The\u00a0prices for rum reveal this measure. One quart was 28 cents, one pint 14 cents,\u00a0one gill 7 cents, and one glass 4 cents.<\/p>\n

On September 6, 1802 one citizen is thus charqed: one glass rum .04, two\u00a0glasses rum .07, your wife entertained at Soule’s .50. What a story is suggested\u00a0by those simple items. Sometimes the story doesn’t have to be suggested;\u00a0it is directly told, like this instance: ! pt. rum delivered to your wife .08.\u00a0Query: why was the woman charged one cent more than the customary seven cents\u00a0for that quantity?<\/p>\n

Although most of the charges for rum are for small quantities, occasionally\u00a0there is a big item, and one at least seems to have given the storekeeper\u00a0a lot of trouble. On December 27, 1802 he entered against Benjamin DOW, Esq.\u00a0(the Esquire signifying a man of prominence, as indeed he must have been by\u00a0the size of the purchase) — he entered against Dow a charge for 32 gals. rum,\u00a0$40.00, then wrote after the item ruefully, “the rum was delivered last January\u00a0and a note was taken, which note is now stolen”.<\/p>\n

In a later broadcast we shall have more to say about this old account\u00a0book, for we have scarcely touched its surface tonight. What we want to emphasize\u00a0is that relics like this are historical source materials, revealing\u00a0the folkways and customs, as well as the material objects of a by-gone day.\u00a0Notice how revealing is this simple account charged on January 24, 1806:<\/p>\n

“widdow” Palmer 1 yard crape gauze\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .58<\/p>\n

1 gal. rum\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1.00<\/p>\n

This clearly was the widow’s necessary outfit for the funeral.<\/p>\n

\n

This program has had much to say about economic problems of our day_Openly and without apology we have praised private enterprise and have condemned\u00a0the socialistic state. As we read this old account book of 150 years\u00a0ago we cannot but be impressed by two facts. First, human nature was much\u00a0the same as it is now. Not everyone paid the storekeeper in 1802. Like the\u00a0modern merchant, he had sometimes to bring suit. But the second fact is just\u00a0as important, and that fact is the undenied, unquestioned assumption on the\u00a0part of the debtor and creditor alike that the bill must be paid. In 1802\u00a0no one would have made fun of the remark credited to Calvin Coolidge about\u00a0the British debt to us after World War I. When someone asked him if he expected\u00a0Britain to pay, he is said to have replied, “They borrowed the money,\u00a0didn’t they?”<\/p>\n

The folks of the Kennebec Valley who traded at that old Augusta store\u00a0never expected something for nothing. They intended to pay for what they\u00a0got, though the wages of a skilled stonemason were recorded right in this\u00a0very account book as only $1.00 a day. They didn’t expect Uncle Sam or the\u00a0General Court up at Boston to take care of them. Was it a hard and rugged\u00a0life? Of course it was. But it was a life not devoid of kindness and\u00a0sympathy. In this old account book occurs more than one item like this one\u00a0recorded in the winter of 1804:<\/p>\n

William Bell, credit, to cancel his account\u00a0(his house burned)<\/p>\n

\n

What do the American people do with their money; that is, with the money\u00a0not used for the necessities of life? U. S. News gives us some interesting\u00a0answers to that question: 26 million families buy. automobiles, 39 million pay\u00a0life insurance premiums, 36 million add to savings accounts or buy U. S. bonds,\u00a023 million make payments on homes and farms, 5 million invest in small\u00a0businesses. U. S. News points out that this is a marked change from 1929.<\/p>\n

Then everybody was playing the stock market. Today only 4 million people of\u00a0all our 150 million are buying corporation stocks. The average family is today more interested in keeping its money safe than in making a quick profit.<\/p>\n

One expense the present-day American regards as a necessity rather than\u00a0a luxury. Even in the\u00b7 group of families whose income is less than $1,000 a\u00a0year, 23 per cent, almost one in every four, own cars. Or, at least, they\u00a0have cars even if the loan company really holds title to most of them.<\/p>\n

Year: 1950<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the script for “Little Talks” program #58, broadcast on March 5, 1950<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1153,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}