New Spring Goods - North Carolina Digital History

Advertisements in a Plymouth, North Carolina, newspaper, celebrate the return of peace -- and of consumer goods from the North. For a closer look, visit the Eastern North Carolina Digital Library at East Carolina University. (The Old Flag (Plymouth, N.C.), Vol. 1 No. 2, May 26, 1865, p. 1. More about the photograph)

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Notice.—

I shall open in a few days, a new and well selected stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, &c., which I will sell at the Lowest Prices, wholesale or retail.

Drafts taken in New York at sight, for Goods.

Please call before purchasing elsewhere.

J. T. Mizell.
Plymouth, May 26, 1865.

Peace, Peace!

L. H. Hornthal

has just received from New York

$10,000 worth of Goods!

which he will sell at

a great reduction from former prices.

Bleached and Brown Cottons, Mouslin de Laines, Bareges, Plain and Blk Alpaccas, Calico, Linen Towels, Moorehair for dresses, Ladies & Gents Hose, Children’s Hose, Ladies Gloves, Hair Netts, Parasols, Yankee Notions, Ladies and Gents Straw Hats, Linen Handkerchiefs, every variety of ribbons and millinery goods .

A large stock of Boys and Gents summer clothing.

One of the Largest Stocks of boots and shoes, Which we will sell at a great reduction.

Wool and Fur Hats, Linen and Flannel Shirts, Also, a large lot of groceries.

Ladies and Gents will find it to their advantage to see the new stock before buying their Summer suits. All that is most fashionable this season can be had or made up to surpass any house in style. Please call and see

L. H. Hornthal.
Plymouth, May 26, 1865.

New Spring Goods.

A new and large stock of dry goods, groceries, fancy articles , &c., Purchased expressly for the wants of the people of this section, and

Now Opened

at the store of J. B. Chesson,

where will be found calicoes, ginghams, muslins, Delaines, lawns, diapers,

mourning goods,
cambrics,
mosquito nettings,
cotton cards,
patent medicines,
spool cotton,
pins and needles, &c.

together with

Coffee, Suger, Salt, Plows, Axes, Chains, Hoes, Tobacco, Snuff, Lard, Butter, Fruits, Flavoring Extracts, Perfumery, Combs, Buttons, and other articles too numerous to mention.

Plymouth, N. C., May 19, 1856.

Eating House.

Meals

Breakfast from 7 to 9 A. M.

Dinner from 12 to 2 P. M.

Supper from 5 to 7 P. M.

Prices of meals: Breakfast 75 cents. Dinner One Dollar. Supper 75 cts.

Saloon in the Mary Lee House.

Wm. Rankin, Proprietor.

Plymouth, N. C., May 19, 1865.

Variety Store & Barber’s Shop.

Amos Pettiford respectfully gives notice that he has opened a Store on Water Street, near Quartermaster’s Stable, where he will keep constantly on hand a full supply of cakes, candy, eggs, lemonade, cigars, snuff and tobacco .

Mr. P. has also fitted up a Barber’s Shop where he will be happy to wait on all who will give him their patronage.

Express business. — Mr. P. will also attend to all kinds of Express work, and will convey goods to any part of the town.

Mason work of all kinds will be promptly attended to, by leaving your orders with me.

Plymouth, N. C., May 19, 1865.

Look here!

I have just received from New York one of the largest stocks of Goods ever seen in Plymouth or vicinity, consisting of

Dry Goods, Groceries, Fancy Articles, &c.

—Also,—

Boots and Shoes, and every article That is necessary for the people.

Give me a call, and I will guarantee you perfect salisfaction in Goods, Prices, &c.

Levi Jackson.
Plymouth, May 26, 1865.

New store!
New goods.

A Fresh Stock of Goods, fresh from New York, kept constantly on hand, which will be sold at the Lowest Market Rates, for cash or country produce. Call and see my stock of Prints, Crockery, Medicines, Lawns, Tin Ware, Candies, Sheetings, Ploughs, Knives, DeLaines, Shevels, Flour, Boots and Shoes, Hats and Caps, Yankee Notions, Perfumeries, Glass and Nails, Sugar & Coffee, Clothing, Hoes, &c., &c.

In order to promote trade, I will take in exchange for Goods, N. C. bank notes, cotton, shingles, staves, bees-wax, flax-seed, turpentine &c.

Please give me a call, before purchasing elsewhere.

S. R. Dickerson.
Plymouth, N. C., May 19, 1865.

Shoemaking.

Harrold & Frances respectfully give notice to the citizens of this and surrounding counties, that they are now prepared to do all kinds of boot or shoe making, in the best and most satisfactory manner. Heeling, Tapping, and all kinds of Repairing done at short notice. Please give us a call. Store on Water Street, opposite the Quartermaster’s Stables.

WM. FRANCES.
GEO. T. HARROLD
Plymouth, N. C., May 19, 1865.

Comments

Notions

Notions are little things, such as personal items and materials for sewing other than fabric, such as buttons and thread.

return to text

Next: Freedom

Contents: North Carolina in the Civil War and Reconstruction

Chapter 7: The war comes to an end, 1864–1865

Next: Freedom
Previous: "Can the very spirit of freedom die out?"

As you read

Advertisements in a Plymouth, North Carolina, newspaper, celebrate the return of peace — and of consumer goods from the North. With the end of the blockade, Southern merchants were once again able to import goods from the North and Europe.

As you read, consider where in North Carolina these goods were offered for sale. Northeastern North Carolina had been under Union control for most of the war, and so merchants there might have had advantages in buying northern goods. At the same time, the region around Plymouth had seen a great deal of fighting during the war.

Also note that these ads appeared in the same Union army newspaper that published the announcement that hostilities had ceased — the very same issue, in fact. How might that fact change the way you read the ads?

Questions to consider

As you’ve read, for much of the war, southerners had gone without some of the necessities of life. Considering the hardships they had faced, how might they have felt about the prospect of buying the goods advertised in this paper? What do you think they would have been particularly interested in?
This was the first opportunity recently freed slaves had to earn wages and purchase goods from a store. What do you think they would have been most eager to purchase? Why?
How did the prices in this newspaper compare with the prices Julia Johnson Fisher paid during the war?
Are you surprised to see stores offering goods like these so soon after the war’s end? Why or why not? How many people around Plymouth do you imagine would have been able to buy them? Why?

Learn more

A “digital textbook”

LEARN NC’s digital textbook for North Carolina History uses primary sources and multimedia to tell many stories about the past, not just one.

Part six explores the political, military, and social history of the state during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Definitions

exorbitant adj.: Unreasonably high.

vicinity n.: The surrounding or nearby area

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Credits

The Old Flag (Plymouth, N.C.), Vol. 1 No. 2, May 26, 1865, p. 1.

Commentary and sidebar notes by David Walbert and L. Maren Wood.

Original source available from Eastern North Carolina Digital Library.

North Carolina Digital History: Credits and acknowledgments

LEARN NC

7.16 New Spring Goods

Notice.—

Peace, Peace!

New Spring Goods.

Eating House.

Variety Store & Barber’s Shop.