by Barbara Rimkunas
This "Historically Speaking" column was published in the Exeter News-Letter on Friday, April 3, 2025.
In 1874, if a loved-one had died part of your job planning the funeral might be a stop at the photography studio of William Hobbs on Water Street. Not for a post-mortem photo of the deceased, although this was sometimes done, but to have Hobbs attend the funeral to take “large photographs and stereoscopic views of funeral wreaths and crosses – executed in a superior manner.” Most of us today, even with cameras in our pockets, don’t take pictures of the funeral flowers. But apparently in 1874 it was something people wanted. There are numerous examples in the photography collections at the Exeter Historical Society.
Sometimes, just trying to figure out the advertising in the venerable Exeter News-Letter in the 19th century can be puzzling. If your eyesight was troubling, you might visit an oculist for help. The oculist firm of Lazarus & Morris advertised a visit “for one day only at Wetherell’s Pharmacy” on Monday, June 8th, 1874. “Double vision spectacles to see far and near, cataract lenses, ministers’ spectacles, near sighted persons who find it difficult to get suited will find this an excellent opportunity of obtaining a good fit.” Their ad ended with a firm “NO PEDLERS EMPLOYED” to reassure potential clients. Pedlers were well known for hawking snake oil remedies, like “Dr. S.D. Howe’s Arabian Tonic Blood Purifier” that he said would fix the liver, kidneys, and blood. Vegetarian and all-natural, it would help you regain lost vitality, general debility, and a broken-down constitution. That’s just too good to be true. Like most patent medicines, it probably contained copious amounts of alcohol and opiates.
Sir James Clarke’s Female pills were advertised in 1860 for “Married Ladies whose health will not permit an increase of family.” Merrill’s drugstore served as the agent for this product, which was an abortifacient comprised primarily of oil of savin. Its sale was delicate, but not illegal at the time. Most other concoctions for building up a lagging constitution were similar to those offered by Weeks & Seward: “Beef, Iron, and Wine” tonics.
On market day in Exeter (which was on Thursdays) you could find the usual meats, fish, and vegetables, but also items that were common at the time, but confusing to those of us today. Oliver Lane offered fish sales at his store including “clams, tongues and sounds” delivered to any part of the village. It takes some digging through incredibly old cookbooks to find recipes for cod tongues (a jelly-like consistency) or sounds, which are the inflatable bladders that run alongside the fish’s spine. Sounds needed to be soaked overnight in milk to prepare them for frying. Sounds were an Atlantic maritime dish and are still sometimes eaten in parts of Nova Scotia.
Another market day item found in the advertisements was “Print Butter” sold at C.W.Barker’s Choice Family Groceries on Water Street. At twenty-three cents a pound, this was a bit more expensive than most butter. Print Butter was pre-measured and packaged in brightly printed paper. To the consumer, it appeared to be sanitary and of consistent quality. So much better than the slab o’ butter you might purchase from a local (and possibly tubercular) farm cow. An ad for hamburg at just five cents seemed like a great deal, until one noticed that it was five cents per yard and ‘hamburg’ was a type of fabric.
Finding the right shop might be difficult for the time traveler. Henry Jelna sold Singer sewing machines in his boot and shoe shop. Field’s furniture shop also sold caskets and shrouds. Wallpaper was sold at Batchelder’s Bookstore. You could also rent books at the bookstore for two or three cents per day.
Molded collars were all the rage in 1867. These were made of stiff paper, sometimes covered with lace or thin fabric. Paper collars were separate from the shirt, blouse, or dress with which it was worn. They could be spot cleaned and worn numerous times before they were tossed aside. The rest of the garment was washed less frequently. Molded paper collars were prized by clerks, maids, and other low-paid workers who needed to look smart.
Earle & Cutts advertised “croquet slippers.” A quick search yielded only the question, “Did you mean crochet slippers?” No. No we were not looking for crochet patterns for slippers. After a few more deep dives into the history of footwear, croquet slippers (or croquet sandals or croquet shoes) turned out to be nothing more than sneakers. Canvas topped, vulcanized rubber soled shoes that were meant to be used while playing croquet, tennis, or any other type of lawn sport. Highly prized, croquet shoes were fairly pricey for the time, coming in at about six dollars in the years following the Civil War. These ugly things were the footwear of the elites, it seems.
And, knowing that Ladies loved to indulge themselves, Frank Hervey called his candy shop the “Palace of Sweets,” featuring all manner of confectionery. Cakes and pastries with ornamental frostings, all kinds of fruit, ice cream soda and delicious beer (of the root beer, birch beer, and sarsaparilla variety) were all to be found at his shop. At least it was obvious what he was selling.
Image: Field’s Furniture Store. The undertaking department was through the back door. There, one could purchase a casket and burial shroud.