Christmas
advertising can be a cut-throat affair, even for local, family-owned stores
with loyal customers. ‘A New and Interesting Advt for R.S. THORBURN Will appear
in a few days’ reads an 1894 advertisement for R.S. Thorburn’s Drapery. The
single sentence steals an entire full page-long column of the Thames Star from
any competitors who may not have otherwise missed the printing deadline.
Robert Spiers
Thorburn (my first cousin four times removed, according to Ancestry.com, for
those of you playing along at home), owned one of several draperies on Pollen
St at the turn of last century. Vying for customers alongside the likes of
Hetherington’s, Thorburn’s Drapery regularly advertised their most fashionable
new stock and outlandishly cheap prices to the Thames Star and Ohinemuri
Gazette’s readers. ‘Thorburn’s Goods are Good Goods,’ read one ad, ‘and well
known to be Cheap and Up-to-Date.’
Draperies were a
vital business in the flourishing township. Selling everything from suits and
hats to umbrellas and corsets, the likes of Thorburn’s and Heatherington’s
ensured the citizens of Thames were outfitted with the very best and most
fashionable clothing and accessories the British Empire could provide. Thorburn’s
Drapery and its competitors helped to keep the people of the Thames smart and
stylish well into the twentieth century.
Promotions over
the Christmas period were particularly heated. In December 1903, Thorburn’s
countered Hetherington’s offer of a ‘Handsome Gift’ with every purchase over 10
shillings, with the offer of a ‘straight-out cash gift’ of one shilling on
similarly-priced purchases. On the same page, the Wanted Known column of
classified advertisements features eight separate classified ads for
Thorburn’s, each targeting a different audience. ‘WANTED,’ asked one: ‘100
smart young ladies to wear Thorburn’s 4-dome French kid gloves... at 11d per
pair.’ Another classified wanted it known: ‘that the Wise woman, be she maid,
wife or widow, buys large parcels of drapery at Thorburn’s.’
In the Ohinemuri
Gazette’s 1902 review of the Christmas season in Paeroa and Thames, it was
noted that Thorburn’s ‘was looking capital’ on Christmas Eve, as the streets
heaved with last-minute shoppers taking in the town’s many Christmas window
displays. ‘He had a fine show, and if we mistake not he did a fine trade.’ All
of the Thames drapers, ‘as is their annual custom showed a magnificent display
of goods, which was the main feature of attraction.’
In the New Year,
Thorburn’s topped this with an ad for a ‘Grand Local and Interdistrict Business
Concert,’ publishing a full programme of ‘music’ based around the shop’s
merchandise. Featuring such ‘songs’ as ‘Summer Fashions,’ ‘Corset Solo – Bones
Throughout,’ and ‘Our Stock Must Go,’
the daily ‘concert’ featured a '10 minute interval to allow the audience
to go home for more money,’ and was given by ‘Thorburn’s Unparalleled and
Unlimited Company of High Class Artist under the Conductorship of – A GENIUS.’
‘THORBURN
RESPECTFULLY ASKS Your Patrongage.’
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