Existing comment:
Just Arrived -- New and Cheap:
The undersigned has just returned from the Eastern Markets with the largest and most complete stock of goods he has ever offered at this place.
Hoping people would shop at his store, Harpers Ferry merchant John G. Wilson ran the above advertisement on April 20, 1854. His competition? 40 businesses, including six other dry goods stores.
This exhibit displays many items sold in the 1850s. Shop owners catered to young and old. They stocked their shelves with candy, tobacco and the latest in house wares, clothing, sewing needs, hardware, books, and personal supplies.
Merchants could easily travel by rail or canal to Philadelphia and Baltimore, personally select items and ship them to their stores.
Before the Civil War whites and blacks, slave and free, shopped at these stores together. Daily wages ranged from 50 cents for washer women to $2.00 for skilled armory workers. |