Condell, Jones & Co.
1841-1852
Condell, Jones & Co. was established by Thomas Condell, John Condell, and Edward Jones in 1841. They rented a store located in a two-story brick building on the north corner of 5th and Washington St known as #2 Hoffman’s Row. The store held an assortment of merchandise including ready-made garments, needle-worked French collars, black silk lace, velvet trimmings, bonnets, parasols, and men and women’s boots. The store prided itself on having the latest trends from the East and Europe ensuring its customers would always have the best selection in town. Not long after the store was first established, the Condell’s bought the building across the street on the northwest corner of the north side of “The Square.” Two years into business the store opened a branch in Decatur Il run by Thomas and John’s brother William Condell. William ran the Decatur business for about five years until he bought the company with a fellow clerk and continued running the store under the name Condell & Stamper. The store was in operation until 1852 when Edward Jones left the partnership.
Manufacturing Location
Condell, Jones & Co. imported many of their goods from England and transported them from the east coast. Two port towns, Philadelphia and Boston, were heavily advertised by the store. During the early 1800s England was in the midst of an industrial revolution. Animal and water powered machinery was being replaced with steam powered technology allowing for the production of finished goods efficiently and cheaply. Foreign manufacturers were able to undersell locally manufactured goods in most markets. The industrialization of manufacturing in American was not far behind that in England. The textile industry gradually developed over the early 1800s.
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Merchandise
The demand for ready-made clothing increased in the 1840s with ten to twenty percent of a family’s income being spent on ready-made garments. The invent of standardized sizing made the read-made clothing industry possible. When they were first introduced, clothing in standard sizes were often poor quality and shapeless. Often, they were worn as work clothes. With the introduction of the sewing machine in the 1850s manufacturers were able to produce cloth goods that were cheap, durable, and fashionable. The ready made clothing market mainly focused on men’s garments. Women either made their own clothing or went to a dressmaker to have clothing custom made. Stores would sell readymade women’s garments that were low risk to make and sell, these were items that were not fitted or could be gathered to the wearer such as women’s petticoats.
Transportation
Goods from Europe were transported to America on wooden sailing ships and then steel hulled sailing ships as technology advanced. Steam powered ships began to appear but were not practical for long voyages due to the amount of coal necessary to cross the Atlantic. Merchant ships relied on wind propulsion until the early 20th century. It took an average of six weeks to cross the Atlantic Ocean. During bad weather it could take up to fourteen weeks.
“It then required six or more weeks to get goods transported from the East. They had to be wagoned over the mountains to Pittsburg; thence by steamboats to St. Louis and Beardstown, and from thence to this city by transient teams.” John Condell wrote in History of Sangamon County, Illions. A stage coach or wagon could travel around sixty miles a day and transported people or goods and in the beginning was one of the few ways to transport goods overland. The first railroad didn’t arrive in Springfield until 1842. The Northern Cross ran from Springfield to Meredosia Il giving central Illinois access to the Illinois River. It wasn’t until the 1850’s that the railroad grew to cover most of Illinois. With the expansion of the rail system Springfield gradually turned into a center for railroad traffic in Illinois.
Advertising
The beginning of modern newspaper advertising began in the early 1800s. The publisher of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett, established newspaper practices that can still be seen today. He raised the price of advertisements so that he could lower the cost of newspapers. He put an end to the repetition of ads, limiting an ad’s run to two weeks and then later a single day. This forced readers to read the paper and ads more carefully. He also placed ads throughout his paper, including the front page. Over the years ads did not change greatly despite shifts in marketing techniques. Newspapers generally did not show much visual appeal to viewers. They did not print advertisements wider than a single column and generally did not include illustrations or special typeface. Advertisers were forced to find ways around these restrictions. By creating unusual layouts and manipulating white space they were able to attract the reader’s attention while staying within the guidelines established.
Started in 1831 by William Bailhache and Edward Baker, the Sangamo Journal was a local daily newspaper for Springfield Il. Condell, Jones & Co.’s first ad appeared on September 10, 1841. The advertisement stated the store’s location and that the store stocked the latest seasonal goods to be bought at the cheapest prices. The ad does not go into detail concerning the items the store carries but instead invites shoppers to brows the store’s stock for themselves. The store ran the same ad for three months once every week. It wasn’t until the spring of 1842 that Condell Jones & Co included a detailed list of goods in their ads. The first few years the store was in operation the ads were aimed at a general audience. Later ads became aimed at a target audience of young women looking for the latest fashions and mothers looking to cloth members of her family. As the store became know to the public many advertisements left off the store location and other stores started to use the Condell store as a reference for finding their own stores. While advertising the stores, John Condell would run the same ad once a week every week for several months at a time. The exact length of time an ad would be in the paper varied. His advertisements did not contain pictures or images of the goods his store carried but did make creative use of type and white spaces to draw the eyes of customers.