Last minute shopping for that special someone? In Newport in 1774, Christopher Champlin offered the latest seasonal bargains, advertising that he “sells…as low, for cash, as at any store.” But wait, there’s more: consider William Grinnell’s ad selling his Newport house, with a “convenient bake-house” for preparing favorite holiday treats. John Miller’s shop, located where the Jamestown ferry docked, offered wines and cordials for holiday feasting and celebrating.
At the corner of Thames and Touro Streets, where we now shop at Banana Republic, Young’s Grocers once served the community advertising Christmas gifts beginning in the 1840s.
And for the children, the December 27, 1884 Newport Mercury noted: “Twenty five years ago, one toy store supplied the city, and Mr. Rider, the proprietor informs us that not more than $50 worth of goods were sold that Christmas. Now thousands of dollars are sold here.”
Image from “The Newport Mercury” 19 December 1774.