Though I'm not quite the die-hard my mother and sister are, I do enjoy a fine shopping trip. And do you know what I enjoy more than just a fine shopping trip? I fine shopping trip in which I find bargains!
While researching for my two Colonial or early Federal books, I had fun exploring the shopping world of the late 18th century. Learning about fashion babies and fustion, pin money and Chalmers shillings. But one of my most fun discoveries was vendues.
Have you ever heard of these? I hadn't, until reading Washington's Spies
by Alexander Rose. One of the historical figures he talks about (and
who also appears in my Ring of Secrets) apprenticed in a store called Templeton
& Stewart in the City of New York. T&S had two divisions--an
upscale one in the fashionable district of the city, and then a vendue
across from the city's red light district, Holy Ground.
I
would have scratched my head upon reading that, had Mr. Rose not gone
on to explain what this "vendue" thing was. Apparently it's much
like a discount store today. When there was either overstock or damaged
goods in a regular store, they would send it to a vendue, where the
goods were either auctioned off or marked down.
Apparently there was some
grumbling when Templeton & Stewart opened a vendue, from owners of
other retailers. But they were soon happy to see that it didn't detract
from their clientele--that two different sets of people shopped in these
two different kinds of stores.
It's no surprise, I suppose, that as long as people have been exchanging hard-earned coin for goods, they've been trying to get the best deals. But it's always fun to learn that discount stores (not unlike my favorite shopping location in my home town) have a long and rich history. And though I didn't find a time to really explain what these stores are in Ring of Secrets, I did slip a mention of them into the final chapters. =)
~*~
Roseanna M. White
grew up in the mountains of West Virginia, the beauty of which
inspired her to begin writing as soon as she learned to pair subjects
with verbs. She spent her middle and high school days penning novels
in class, and her love of books took her to a school renowned for
them. After graduating from St. John’s College in Annapolis,
Maryland, she and her husband moved back to the Maryland side of the
same mountains they equate with home.
Roseanna is the
author of two biblical novels, A Stray Drop of Blood
and Jewel of Persia,
both from WhiteFire Publishing (www.WhiteFire-Publishing.com),
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland from
Summerside Press, and the upcoming Culper Ring Series from Harvest
House, beginning in March 2013 with Ring of Secrets.
She
is the senior reviewer at the Christian Review of Books, which
she and her husband founded, the senior editor at WhiteFire
Publishing, and a member of ACFW, Christian Authors Network,
HisWriters, and Colonial American Christian Writers. She is a regular blogger at Go Teen Writers, Colonial Quills, and her personal blog.
Interesting, I had no idea bargain shopping or discount stores existed so long ago.
ReplyDeleteLove the cover to Ring of Secrets
Thanks! Not that I designed it, but you know. ;-) And I was really surprised to learn that too.
DeleteSounds like something the early French traders would have done. I wonder why they chose to use a French word for the second hand goods store?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it lent it a bit of sophistication. ;-)
DeleteGreat stuff, Roseanna! And I love the way you (and I or other historical authors) slip in these little know delicacies of history that enrich and enliven a story:) Vendues, indeed! I'm hooked already...
ReplyDeleteIsn't that fun? =) Love finding them in your work, and it's like a game finding ways to include them in my own. Huzzah for historical writer! ;-)
DeleteHello Roseanna, was there a Vendue in Philadelphia? Thank you for your reply.
ReplyDelete