"Fresh and Fashionable Goods": The Daybooks of Elijah Boardman, Connecticut Shopkeeper, 1784-1811

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, store-bought textiles and dress-related goods played an important role in the material world of many Americans. Local and domestic manufacturing generally did not fulfill the demand for such goods; imports from Europe and Asia provided many of these products. Advancements in manufacturing technologies and the growth of American overseas trade during this time contributed to the expanding supply of consumer goods, among which textiles and dress-related items featured prominently. In rural regions, dry-goods stores provided the populace with access to a diverse assortment of these wares. This study examines purchases made at Elijah Boardman’s store in New Milford, Connecticut, to determine the patterns of consumption of store-bought textiles and dress-related goods in a rural New England town in early national America. It focuses on how these patterns shifted during this period of immense changes in textile production and fashion. This research is based on document analysis of seven daybooks recording the transactions that took place at Elijah Boardman’s store during thirty-five months in 1784-85, 1797-98, and 1810-11. The purchases made during these years show that Boardman’s customers bought a wide array of textiles and dress-related goods. This included utilitarian and fashionable items, raw materials and tools as well as finished goods, and products made by local artisans in addition to those imported from distant lands. Their purchases also reflect the changing times through the increase in cotton textile sales during 1797-98 and 1810-11 resulting from manufacturing improvements and emerging neoclassical fashions. The amounts and types of goods bought also suggest their end uses: the predominance of short textile lengths and trimmings in these transactions indicates that Boardman’s customers more routinely refurbished rather than replaced garments. Boardman sold goods to a variety of customers: account holders included men, women, and enslaved and free non-white people. Individuals other than account holders also regularly made purchases; the family, friends, and business acquaintances who participated in these transactions illustrate the consumer networks that were often involved in the acquisition of these goods.


Chapter One Introduction
Evidence abounds to contest the long-held belief that rural Americans living before the Industrial Age had little access to goods beyond those made by their own or their neighbors' hands. In actuality, an immense diversity of goods sourced from regions far and wide, largely channeled to remote areas by country shopkeepers, augmented locally manufactured products. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, textiles and dress-related goods produced by the highly developed industries of Europe and Asia comprised the majority of imports into America. 1 Purchases of such goods were typically among individual households' highest expenditures. While research has addressed local production of textiles and clothing in depth, the prevalence of their store-bought counterparts in early national America calls for further investigation into the specifics of this trade in country stores. 2 This study provides in-depth insights into textiles and dress-related goods that rural Americans bought, their patterns of acquisition, and how these purchases evolved over a period of significant changes in textile manufacturing and fashion through the daybooks of Connecticut shopkeeper Elijah Boardman.
Eighteenth-and nineteenth-century commercial account books are common elements of museum and historical society archives throughout the United States. For decades, historians have mined these rich sources for information on the economic, social, and cultural conditions of a given time and place. Such documents have proven invaluable to the study of material culture and specifically, textiles and clothing, as they are often the only remaining evidence of such ephemeral objects. Many collections of account books have not themselves survived intact: often only a few scattered volumes exist, providing momentary glimpses into a store's activities. The almost-complete collection of daybooks belonging to Elijah Boardman, the proprietor of a dry-goods store in New Milford, Connecticut, between the years of 1781 and 1819, are therefore a unique and important resource. This collection documents the goods and people that flowed daily in and out of Boardman's store over several decades, offering a remarkably continuous narrative of this community's purchasing patterns.
Boardman's store operated during a period of vigorous commercial activity in America's teeming port cities and its backcountry hamlets alike. The decades between the conclusion of the American Revolution and the commencement of the War of 1812 were years of particular prosperity for American merchants and shopkeepers, who supplied consumers with vast assortments of goods that ranged from the mundane to the exotic, many of which were textile-related. This era will serve as the focus of the following study, which is based on a three-year selection of Elijah Boardman's daybooks from the beginning, middle, and end of the period spanning Boardman's earliest surviving daybook of 1784 to the last extant volume preceding the War of 1812. 3 The burgeoning trade in consumer goods experienced in the decades surrounding the turn of the nineteenth century coincided with significant developments in textile manufacturing and fashion in the western world. The The aim of this study is to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the textiles and dress-related goods purchased in a country store. In doing so, it demonstrates the variety of such purchases and how they changed in response to developments in technology and fashion. This study also illustrates the diverse shopping habits of his customers and the networks of individuals who were often involved in buying these goods. By bringing to light the yards of cloth, dozens of buttons, and papers of pins purchased daily by Boardman's customers, this study presents a detailed picture of the acquisition of store-bought textiles and dress-related goods at a local level. As such, it contributes an additional perspective to the history of American textiles and dress in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
made their way into seemingly remote corners of America, including rural New England.
This discussion of advancements in textile production begins with the British textile industry, which had close ties with American markets. Beverly Lemire has written extensively on the history of this industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Much of her work has focused on cotton, the first fiber to undergo mechanization of production in the second half of the eighteenth century. 1 Lemire chronicles the European craze for a type of Indian cottons known as calicoes, first imported to England in the sixteenth century and reaching a fever pitch in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 2 She also charts the rise of British calico manufacturing, which commenced in the eighteenth century and was stimulated by a ban on Indian imports. 3 Fiber-processing and spinning technologies developed in Britain in the 1770s and 1780s in response to consumer demand and exponentially increased the production and quality of cotton yarn. 4 According to Lemire, the great variety of inexpensive British cotton textiles that resulted from industrial production in turn drove the increasingly widespread fashion for cotton clothing among all classes in the 1780s and 1790s. 5 In the first chapter of Wearable Prints, 1760-1860, Susan Greene traces the emergence of the taste for printed cottons, covering much of the same ground as Beverly Lemire. However, Greene's study ultimately focuses on the American 1 Beverly Lemire, Cotton (New York: Berg, 2011), 65. 2 Ibid., 33, 43. 3 Ibid., 53. 4 Ibid.,78-82. 5 Lemire. "'A Good Stock of Cloathes': The Changing Market for Cotton Clothing in Britain, 1750-1800," Textile History 22, no. 2 (1991: 311. markets and industry. While much of her research addresses the technical aspects of printed textiles, Greene also discusses their consumption in the early national period.
Colonial America did not develop a textile industry that could compete with the complexity and sophistication of textile production in Europe because of British legislation that outlawed the export of technology and production skills to its colonies. 6 Greene, along with numerous other textile historians, claims that these conditions created an American dependence on a variety of imported textiles that continued in the decades following the American Revolution. 7 Throughout the 1780s and 1790s, importing textiles continued to be more cost effective than producing them domestically. 8 The fashionable and inexpensive printed cottons favored by a wide sector of the British population at this time were thus also available to their American counterparts. Even as American manufacturing began to catch up to Britain in the 1790s with the introduction of new spinning technology to the United States, Greene explains that Americans were not mass-producing printed textiles until the 1820s. 9 Imported textiles from Europe and Asia were therefore the primary sources of the cotton fabrics that took hold in American dress during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Other historians have addressed American textile production and its contributions to the American marketplace during this period. In his history of the New England textile industry, Paul Rivard suggests that local production of cloth supplied the lower end of the market, driving out foreign imports of coarse cloth by the late 1780s. 10 Rivard claims that the domestic production of linen and wool textiles was "widespread and economically significant" in the American colonies long before the advent of large-scale industrial production in the nineteenth century. 11 According to Rivard, the appearance of carding machines and improvements to spinning technology at the end of the eighteenth century increased the productivity of local cloth manufacturing. 12 Furthermore, the establishment of cotton spinning mills in New England in the 1790s introduced large quantities of inexpensive cotton yarn to local weavers. 13 Cotton yarn, which could be more easily processed and mechanically spun than flax, was then "put out" to domestic handloom weavers, who produced the checked and striped cotton fabrics that adorned the bodies and homes of many Americans during this period. 14 Rivard asserts that between 1790 and 1830, local weaving flourished in New England as a result of the new fiber-processing and spinning technologies, which supplied handloom weavers with an abundant supply of yarn. 15 While higher-quality fashion textiles continued to be imported from abroad, these American-made textiles supplied consumers with the inexpensive cotton fabrics that made up a large part of the wardrobes of the lower and middling echelons of society. 16 10 Paul E. Rivard. A New Order of Things: How the Textile Industry Transformed New England (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2002), 7. 11 Ibid., 3. 12 Ibid., 16, 23-26. 13 Ibid., 20. 14 Ibid., 19,21,27. 15 Ibid.,27. 16 Ibid.,[3][4][5][6][7] The revolutionary innovations that were reshaping the European and American textile industries during this period coincided with equally dramatic shifts in fashion.
In her seminal works on the evolution of men's and women's dress in Europe from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, Norah Waugh pinpoints the 1780s and 1790s as decades of significant fashion changes. 17 This upheaval is most visible in women's clothing of this period: high waistlines, elongated skirts, and diaphanous cottons replaced the conical torsos, full petticoats, and heavy silks that dominated much of the eighteenth century. 18 Waugh attributes this stylistic change in large part to the taste for classically inspired design favored in the new French Republic, as well as the popularity of fine cotton textiles. 19 Men's dress underwent a similar simplification of style beginning in the 1780s as the elegant but subdued fashions worn by English country gentlemen took hold throughout Europe. 20 Waugh notes that narrowly cut, unadorned broadcloth coats and shorter waistcoats replaced the full-skirted versions made from figured silks that were seen in fashionable menswear earlier in the century. 21 Within the span of a decade, the landscape of fashionable dress underwent a profound transformation, which emanated from Britain and France and reverberated across Europe and America. Linda Baumgarten's work on clothing in colonial and federal America reveals the close ties between American and European fashions in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Baumgarten's research illustrates that Americans looked to 17 Norah Waugh, The Cut of Men's Clothes, 1600-1900(New York: Routledge, 1964, 54; Waugh, The Europe for textiles and fashion information both before and after the Revolutionary War. 22 She examines the numerous channels through which Americans acquired clothing: while some sourced their garments directly from Europe or purchased readymade imports, many Americans wore clothing that was made at home or by local craftspeople. 23 Fashion plates, newspapers, imported clothing, and European travelers enabled Americans to keep current with the latest European styles. 24 Despite its numerous similarities to European fashion, Baumgarten demonstrates that American dress of this period was also influenced by the social, cultural, and economic conditions that were unique to America. 25 Early national America was a place in which a diverse population inhabited regionally distinct environments; therefore it is important to consider Americans' experiences with clothing in a regional context. Catherine Fennelly's early research on the dress of rural New Englanders illustrates that they were influenced by the same fashion changes taking place in Britain and France at the turn of the nineteenth century. Fennelly shows that many New Englanders had espoused neoclassical styles of dress by the end of the eighteenth century, along with the taste for lightweight cotton fabrics. 26 Fennelly suggests that many New England women were avid fashion consumers who readily embraced these styles despite their incompatibility with the local climate. 27 She also documents the new styles of coats, waistcoats, and pantaloons 22 Linda Baumgarten, What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America (Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2002), 95. 23 Ibid., 88, 90-93. 24 Ibid., 100, 175. 25 Ibid., 104-5. 26 Catherine Fennelly, The Garb of Country New Englanders, 1790-1840: Costumes at Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge, MA: Old Sturbridge Village Inc., 1966 that New England men adopted at this time in accordance with European fashions. 28 While the pace of fashion change certainly varied among communities and individuals, rural New Englanders were interested participants in the world of fashion.
In his study of New England gowns, David Lazaro corroborates Fennelly's findings. Lazaro's article on English patterned silks in the Connecticut River Valley attests to the presence of fashionable luxury textiles far beyond coastal urban centers.
The wives of prosperous farmers acquired these textiles from local retailers who stocked fine imported fabrics. 29 Lazaro also suggests that frugality tempered the fashion choices of these women, as seen in the repeated alterations and continued use of patterned silk gowns even after such textiles had fallen out of favor. 30 Lazaro and Patricia Campbell-Warner also examine the construction of women's gowns between 1780 and 1805 to show how local gownmakers adapted earlier construction techniques to achieve fashionably high-waisted silhouettes. 31 They identified an "all-over pleated bodice" as a style that existed for a relatively brief period in late 1790s and early 1800s; Lazaro and Campbell-Warner's New England example is contemporaneous with a 1797 English fashion plate. 32 This gown further attests to some New Englanders' awareness and espousal of current European fashions.
The subjects of the aforementioned research likely had access to resources that allowed them to keep up with changing fashions. In her book on common clothing of rural New Englanders in the late eighteenth century, Meredith Wright suggests that 28 Fennelly,13. 29 David Lazaro, "Fashion and Frugality: English Patterned Silks in Connecticut River Valley Women's Dress, 1660-1800," Dress 33 (2006: 59-60. 30 Ibid., 73. 31 David Lazaro and Patricia Campbell Warner, "All-Over Pleated Bodice: Dress-Making in Transition, 1780-1805," Dress 31 (2004 Ibid., 19-20. even individuals of modest resources incorporated elements of the new fashions in their apparel. According to Wright, garments made of store-bought textiles were saved for Sundays and special occasions, while locally manufactured cloth was the norm for working wear. 33 A country woman's formal attire commonly consisted of a fashionably-cut, printed cotton gown while her husband or father probably wore a broadcloth coat. 34 Although rural New Englanders of modest means generally did not own a great quantity of clothing, Wright's research demonstrates that they consumed of fashionable textiles and clothing to the extent that their resources allowed.
Textiles and dress-related goods were an integral part of the growing demand for consumer items in Europe and America in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Numerous historians have examined the topic of the "Consumer Revolution," and most do not agree on exactly when and how this took place. Some, like T.H. Breen, locate the rise of American consumerism firmly in the eighteenth century and argue that its rapid onset in the 1740s warrants its categorization as a revolution. 35 Others, like Phyllis Hunter, suggest that Americans' growing interest in consumer goods arrived earlier, in the second half of the seventeenth century, and developed more gradually. 36 Despite their opposing positions on the subject, Breen and Hunter agree that a transformation took place in the eighteenth century that gave many Americans unprecedented access to a wide array of consumer goods by the century's close. 33 Meredith Wright, Put On Thy Beautiful Garments: Rural New England Clothing, 1783-1900 The study of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century consumer culture is inextricably linked to the study of the refinement of American society. Richard Bushman, a pioneer in this area of inquiry, defines refinement as the cultivation of "genteel standards of behavior to elevate human life." 37 Bushman is particularly interested in the material articulation of refinement and traces its development in American society from the late seventeenth century to the mid nineteenth century in architecture, household goods, and personal items. He briefly discusses high-quality household textiles and wearing apparel as essential to the expression of gentility. 38 Bushman argues that the dissemination of refinement was largely the result of emulation of one's social superiors. 39 He claims that this trickling down of genteel living as expressed through consumer goods did not reach the middle and lower orders of American society until the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when improved manufacturing techniques made many consumer items more available. 40 Christina Hodge takes issue with Bushman's explanation of refinement's spread across America in her study of eighteenth-century Newport widow and shopkeeper Elizabeth Pratt. Hodge asserts that non-elites were already participating in aspects of refined lifestyles by the early eighteenth century. 41 She further argues that non-elites' selective and partial adoption of genteel practices, which she calls "partible refinement," was a driving force in the so-called Consumer Revolution. 42  examination of the textile inventory sold at Pratt's store, which illustrates a wide range of textiles sold to a variety of customers across the social and economic spectrum, supports her argument that people of all classes were independent players in the pursuit of refinement through consumer goods. 43 As with the debate surrounding the exact nature of the Consumer Revolution, the ongoing discussion of refinement demonstrates the significance of this period to the evolution of American consumer tastes.
This body of research illustrates the importance of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to the history of textiles and clothing in America. New technologies and new fashions fueled a demand for store-bought textiles, which contributed to the expansion of a consumer culture during this period. We are still left with questions about how these conditions manifested themselves in the lives of everyday Americans. How do the broad trends correlate to the individual experiences?
What do the purchases of textiles and dress-related goods at Elijah Boardman's store tell us about his customers' interactions with the changing landscapes of fashion, textile production, and consumer goods?

The Acquisition of Textiles and Clothing in Early America
The myth of entirely self-sufficient early American households has persisted in popular culture despite being discredited by various historians over the past several decades. Textiles and clothing have figured prominently in this myth by way of nostalgic notions of rural families dressed only in goods produced by their own hands.
Local and domestic production of textiles, often referred to as homespun, indeed 43 Hodge,142. played an important part of the material landscape of early America. Historians such as Linzy Brekke and Kate Haulman suggest that, at various points in the eighteenth century, political leaders encouraged Americans to eschew imported textiles in favor of homespun cloth in protest against British taxation and, later, to preserve the new nation from the corrupting influences of foreign fashions. 44 However, attempts to curb American appetites for foreign textiles and dress-related goods did not have lasting success because of local producers' inability to fulfill demand and the widespread availability of imported cloth and apparel items. As seen in the following pages, these store-bought goods made up at least part of the wardrobes of most Americans both before and after the Revolution.
In her 1982 article, "How Self-Sufficient Was Early America?," Carole Shammas tackles this subject directly in her statistical analysis of the productive output of an average-sized farm in the late eighteenth century. 45 Her research reveals a multifaceted supply chain in which domestic manufacturing was combined with market-purchased textiles. 46 Shammas' analysis of Massachusetts probate inventories shows that even in rural regions, where spinning equipment was most commonly found, households only produced a fraction of their textiles. 47  average, Americans spent at least one quarter of their yearly income on imported goods, many of which were dress-related items. 48 Adrienne Hood's research on cloth production in southeastern Pennsylvania provides further evidence of a household's reliance on store-bought textiles in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her work, which is based on an analysis of output and demand, shows that although this region had an active trade in textiles produced by professional weavers, local manufacturing could not completely fulfill textile needs. 49 Furthermore, the profusion and affordability of imported textiles meant that most households had access to such goods. 50 Hood's study demonstrates that imported textiles acquired in the marketplace were a cornerstone of many households' textile consumption, even in areas with a strong tradition of local textile production.
In her material culture study of early American textile objects, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich brings to light the local networks of domestic production that provided many of the textiles found in New England homes during this period. Her research on Connecticut cloth production shows that unlike Pennsylvania, where professional male weavers dominated manufacturing, women were the primary makers of textiles. 51 Ulrich finds that although eighty to ninety percent of New England households produced some fabric for furnishing textiles and "common wear" clothing, storebought textiles remained a necessary and desired supplement to homespun goods. 52 Through her in-depth regional study, Ulrich, like Hood, reveals that in many early 48 Shammas,266. 49 Adrienne D. Hood 52 Ulrich,298, American households, commercial imports coexisted alongside textiles of local and domestic manufacture.
Charles and Tandy Hersh extend the study of commercial textiles more specifically into patterns of consumption through their research into eighteenthcentury textiles and clothing in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Collecting data from advertisements, account books, and store inventories, the Hershes examine the types and choices of textiles available to Cumberland County consumers between 1750 and 1800. 53 Their statistical analysis, which encompasses textiles sold at several stores, illustrates the volume and variety of textiles sold by country shopkeepers in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania. Moreover, it reveals that both the types and choices of store-bought fabrics increased by the 1790s, indicating that turn-of-the-century consumers had access to an unprecedented variety of textiles in the marketplace. 54 Despite the importance that so many historians have assigned to the role of storebought textiles within local, regional, national, and international economies during this period, the Hershes' study is one of the few to provide a detailed classification of these goods. Marla Miller has contributed greatly to our understanding of the production and consumption of clothing and textiles in the Connecticut River Valley through her research on women's work in the needle trades. She illuminates the importance of clothing as an indicator of individual socioeconomic status and its close ties to 53 The Hershes use "type" to denote different fabrics and "choice" to denote specific characteristics such as color, texture, pattern, quality, etc. See Charles and Tandy Hersh, Cloth and Costume, 1750-1800, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Carlisle, PA: Cumberland County Historical Society, 1995, [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]70. lifecycles and household wealth. 55 Using diaries, letters, newspaper advertisements, and personal account books, Miller chronicles the working lives of artisans who manufactured clothing within these communities and discusses their adaptation to turn-of-the-century fashion changes. 56 She considers the combination of professional skills and domestic labor, and the varying degrees of women's participation in the production and maintenance of their family's clothing. 57 Miller reconstructs the stories of six local women involved in various aspects of the needle trades to explore their patterns of work and the familial, social, and professional networks of garment making in this region. 58 With its focus on clothing production, Miller's research is a vital component in the narrative of fiber to garment, bridging the gap between clothing that New Englanders wore and the textiles from which it was produced.
Store-bought textiles undeniably played a role in the material lives of most Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In many rural households, locally manufactured textiles were used alongside store-bought textiles to varying degrees-almost never to the exclusion of one or the other. While scholars have studied local and domestic textile production at length, more research into the textiles that people bought is needed. This study of textiles in Elijah Boardman's account books contributes to a deeper understanding of this subject by examining consumption patterns of textiles at his store. 55

Shopkeeping and Shopping
Merchants' and shopkeepers' account books have served as the basis for many histories on the exchange of goods in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century America.
Two recent studies of shopkeepers who were contemporaries of Elijah Boardman have proven quite useful to understanding the world of retailing during this period and are deserving of individual mention. This section also considers a relatively new approach to the history of commerce that focuses on the consumer experience. Although the three historians reviewed here cast wide nets that encompass the many types of goods purchased in country stores, textiles and dress-related items figure prominently in their research.
Diane Wenger's comprehensive study of Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, shopkeeper Samuel Rex offers many insights into the manner in which country shopkeepers operated their businesses. Her examination of three years (1791, 1798, 1806-07) of transactions documented in Rex's account books reveals the purchasing patterns of a small, rural community. 59 Using these sources, Wenger uncovers who Rex's customers were, what they purchased, and how they paid for these goods. 60 Wenger also reconstructs Rex's Philadelphia-based supply chain, through which he acquired imported goods to sell at his store and sold the country produce provided by his customers. 61  cities. 66 Hartigan-O'Connor is more interested in consumption captured in action rather than its total accumulation as static wealth; her research is therefore primarily concerned with the records of exchanges of goods found in sources such as account books and personal correspondence. 67 She pays particular attention to the role of intermediaries in facilitating these exchanges. 68 This approach brings to light the familial and social networks through which individuals made purchases, emphasizing the collaborative and mediated aspects of shopping. 69 Hartigan-O'Connor's study thus illustrates the complex web of relationships that lay behind the acquisition of consumer goods.
These studies of retailing and consumption in eighteenth-and early nineteenthcentury America reveal the depth of meaning behind the lists of goods in shopkeepers' account books. They establish the utility of studying in detail one store's activities to gain a more complete understanding of the players involved in the exchange of goods.
Their work also reveals the insights to be gained from studying the consumer's perspective in addition to the seller's perspective. The approach of these historians is holistic, encompassing the many types of consumer goods sold in country stores. The study of Elijah Boardman's account books instead focuses specifically on textiles and dress-related goods to present a more nuanced picture of a central component of this

Conclusion
The history of textiles and clothing in eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century America is a well-trodden path, but one of endless variations that therefore warrants continued study. The importance of store-bought goods to this history is indisputable and calls for more research into their retailing. By focusing exclusively on these types of items purchased at Elijah Boardman's store, this study contributes to our knowledge of the acquisition of textiles and dress-related goods. While similar research has been undertaken in port cities, as well as in rural Virginia and Pennsylvania, studies have not yet focused on a New England country town. The previous work on textiles, clothing, retailing, and consumption guides this research, serving as points of comparison between products and consumers at Elijah Boardman's store and their counterparts in other regions. As one of many related works, this study provides an additional perspective to the history of an economically, socially, and culturally important commodity.

Chapter Three New Milford and Its Residents
The authors of an early nineteenth-century survey of Connecticut described New Milford as a "large and flourishing post town" boasting a diverse landscape with abundant natural resources, varied agricultural activities, and many "large, neat, and handsome buildings." 1 Like hundreds of New England communities, New Milford had grown from its humble beginnings as a frontier settlement to an established and prosperous country town over the course of the eighteenth century. The town was in its heyday during the decades surrounding the turn of the nineteenth century when Elijah Boardman operated his dry-goods store. Fifty miles to the east, the larger towns and cities along the Connecticut River, a major waterway, far outranked New Milford in size and sophistication. Nonetheless, New Milford was a local hub of commercial and cultural activity for the surrounding districts.
In 1707, a handful of white settlers from the eastern parts of Connecticut took up residence on land purchased from the local natives in the Housatonic Valley, along Connecticut's western border with New York (figs. 1 & 2). 2 The town was officially organized as New Milford in 1712 with the establishment of town tax collection and the formation of a church. 3 The original settlement (later the town center) sat on the banks of the Housatonic River, which flowed approximately 120 miles from its source at Lake Pontoosuc in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to its mouth at the Long Island Sound in Stratford,Connecticut. 4 The river and its tributaries served as important commercial transportation routes for the region by the middle of the eighteenth century. 5 They also provided waterpower for various mills and manufactories, such as ironworks, potash works, and nailories, which were established in the vicinity of New Milford in the eighteenth century. 6 The surrounding hills and valleys contained areas of fertile soil well suited for crops and grazing. 7 As a result, New Milford and its neighboring communities prospered in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through a local economy based on mixed agricultural and manufacturing activities. 8 By 1782, New Milford had expanded from its original thirteen shareholders to a population of 3,015 inhabitants. 9 Census reports from 1790, 1800, and 1810 show that the population grew slowly over subsequent decades, increasing to 3,537 inhabitants by 1810. 10 It was the most populous community in the immediate area, matched only by Danbury, fifteen miles south, and the slightly larger county seat of Litchfield, twenty miles to the northeast. 11 New Milford was one of the largest towns in the state, comprised approximately 84 square miles at the end of the eighteenth century. 12 The town center, perched on a hillside a few hundred feet from the Housatonic River, surrounded a town green and became the most densely settled area of New Milford, containing 60 houses in 1819 ( fig. 3). 13 Other residents were scattered on farms in the surrounding districts, some of which separated into independent townships in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 14 During the last decades of the eighteenth century, New Milford became a bustling inland town. Twenty-one school districts and several churches of various denominations attended to the educational and spiritual needs of the community. 15 A hotel, a private school, a singing school, and a library clustered around the town green along with several taverns, stores, and fine homes by the 1790s. 16 New Milford's local economy supported a sizable population of artisans, which included 11 shoemakers, 8 joiners, 5 blacksmiths, 5 millers, 5 masons, 4 coopers, 4 tailors, 2 saddlers, 3 silversmiths, 1 wheelwright, and 1 hatter. 17 Numerous professionals, including 4 attorneys and 2 physicians, also resided in the town. 18 Eleven tavern keepers and at least 10 merchants serviced New Milford as well. 19 These establishments also drew customers from the smaller neighboring villages and benefited from the proximity 13 Pease and Niles,253. 14 Orcutt,243;Daniel N. Brinsmade,"Washington,"      beyond New Milford through goods sourced from around the globe as did countless other Americans in country stores around the nation.

Chapter Four Elijah Boardman and the Boardmans of New Milford
The Boardmans had long been a family that commanded a "particular respect and deference" in New Milford, according to Elijah Boardman's son-in-law, John  15 Over the next eleven years, the brothers expanded their business and acquired a significant amount of property, amassing wealth that would secure the continued preeminence of the Boardman family in New Milford. 16 According to the remembrances of his family, Elijah Boardman was endowed with many admirable qualities. They thought him to be "remarkable for his manly and dignified appearance" and the most handsome member of the family. 17 He possessed a strong intellect and an unwavering sense of duty and propriety, along with a "natural 8 Schroeder,394. 9 Ibid.,400;Carley,44. 10 Schroeder,400. 11 Carley,[44][45] Schroeder, 401-2. 13 Carley, 45. 14 Ibid. 15 Schroeder,402. 16 Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, "'By Your Own Inimmitable Hand': Elijah Boardman's Patronage of Ralph Earl," American Art Journal 23, no. 1 (1991): 8. 17 Schroeder,125. temperament [that] inclined him to hilarity." 18 Elijah's "energy and intrepidity"attributed to his mother's influence, and his "natural and acquired ease and urbanity" no doubt aided his successes in business and public office.
In 1789, Elijah, along with his brother Daniel and sister Esther, had his portrait painted by Ralph Earl, a well-known artist who painted many portraits of New England's country gentry in the 1780s and 90s ( fig. 4). 19 Elijah's portrait is of a rather unusual composition for the period. Instead of the bucolic landscape settings typical of many late-eighteenth century portraits, Elijah poses in his store at a counting desk next to a doorway that opens into a storeroom lined with bolts of imported fabrics. 20 This mercantile setting presents Elijah Boardman as an ambitious young shopkeeper who "epitomizes the entrepreneurial spirit of the new republic." 21 Elijah's portrait shows him handsomely dressed in the manner of understated elegance favored among Anglo-American country gentry during this period. His wellcut garments of broadcloth, fine linen, and satin, are made of the types of high-quality fabrics that were for sale in his store. 22 Details such as his silver shoe and knee buckles and his gold watch, an item of such value that it was itemized separately in town tax rates, mark his prosperity. 23 Other elements indicating Elijah's refinement are the volumes of Shakespeare and Milton standing alongside his account books. 24 With this portrait, Elijah Boardman projects the image of himself not only as an industrious 18 Schroeder, Kornhauser,8. 20 Kornhauser notes that some of the painting's fabric bolts carry British tax stamps, thereby identifying them as imports. Ibid. 21   businessman, but also a cultivated and educated gentleman. Intelligencer, Daniel and Elijah Boardman of New Milford advertised their "very extensive assortment of European, East, and West-India Goods" for sale at their store to the Hartford newspaper's readers. 1 Advertisements like this one filled the pages of American newspapers in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, touting the wares of countless merchants and shopkeepers who operated businesses in large port cities and small country towns alike. Long lists of goods, including many types of textiles, were a common feature of these advertisements, enticing potential customers with a store's wide-ranging inventory of items sourced from the far corners of the globe.
In the decades following the Revolution, Americans enjoyed direct access to goods that had previously been controlled under British legislation. 2 Commerce flourished during this period, and many ambitious men such as Elijah Boardman entered into the mercantile business, supplying American consumers with a vast array of goods. This chapter describes Connecticut's commercial activities and the nature of country shopkeeping at the turn of the nineteenth century to establish the context in which Boardman ran his business. It also looks more closely at the operation of Boardman's store to better understand his customers' shopping experiences.

Connecticut's Mercantile Activities
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, much of Connecticut's trading activities involved the exchange of its agricultural surpluses for imported goods. Because the state lacked a large coastal port, direct trade with Europe and Asia was limited; Connecticut's commerce therefore centered on the interstate "coasting" and West Indies trades. 3 Agricultural products (also known as country produce) were sent to larger American markets such as Boston, New York, or Philadelphia to be sold to for retail or export; shopkeepers could then acquire European and Asian goods from wholesaling merchants in these cities. Country produce was also exported directly to West Indian plantations where it was traded primarily for rum, sugar, molasses, coffee, or salt. 4 As Connecticut's population expanded into its western regions during the eighteenth century, its agricultural output increased and so, too, did its trade in imported goods. 5 The Revolutionary War brought significant disruptions in overseas commerce followed by a period of economic depression, which, in Connecticut, largely resulted from the closing of British West Indian ports to American traders. 6 However, goods continued to circulate as British merchants extended easy credit to their American counterparts in the early 1780s in an effort to sell off inventories that 3 Phyllis Hunter, Purchasing Identity in the Atlantic World: Massachusetts Merchants, 1670-1780(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001Margaret Martin, 1. 4 Margaret Martin, 22-24. 5 Ibid., 18. 6 Ibid., 36, 42. had accumulated during the war. 7 Elijah Boardman might himself have taken advantage of this glut of European imports when he opened his store in 1781.
Connecticut trade flourished in the 1790s, owing first to a series of poor harvests in Europe and then to the outbreak of war between Britain and France in 1793, which increased the demand for American agricultural products in foreign markets. 8 Restrictions on trade with both the British and French West Indies were lifted because the warring nations were in need of American goods to supply their colonies. 9 Agricultural products exported to the West Indies were traded for remittances, which were exchanged for European manufactured goods as well as for West Indian products. 10 The West Indies trade thus entered into a period of unprecedented prosperity between the years of 1793 and 1807, much to the benefit of Connecticut merchants and shopkeepers like Elijah Boardman. 11 In 1807, the trade ban effected by President Thomas Jefferson's embargo in response to British and French hostilities towards American ships served a blow to American commerce. 12 A brief recovery followed from 1809 to 1811 with the lifting of the embargo. This respite was short-lived as trade restrictions were renewed in 1811 and war against Great Britain was declared in 1812. 13 Over the next several years, the British blockade of the East Coast effectively halted the coasting and West Indies 7 Margaret Martin,42. 8 Ibid., Ibid., 61. 10 Ibid. 11 Ibid., 52. 12 Ibid., 65. 13 Ibid., 67.
trades. 14 Largely cut off from their primary markets, the business of Connecticut's merchants and shopkeepers suffered acutely until the war's end in 1815. 15

The Business of Country Shopkeeping
During the heyday of American foreign trade, country shopkeepers like Elijah Boardman played an essential role in the movement of goods between the hinterlands and regional and international markets. The agricultural activities of rural communities such as New Milford provided the population with currency in the form of country produce, which was exchanged for a variety of items carried by local retailers.
Shopkeepers transported country produce to larger markets and sold it to other retailers or to wholesale merchants in exchange for cash or imported goods. 16 Shopkeepers would then return home, having amassed inventories of goods to stock their stores.
A variety of retail establishments existed in eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-century America. Larger cities had both specialty retailers such as milliners, who dealt in women's dress goods, and slops-sellers, who sold inexpensive, ready-made men's clothing, as well as general stores that carried a wide range of merchandise. 17 Grocers, who sold imported foodstuffs, were yet another branch of the 14 Margaret Martin,[67][68] Ibid., 68-70. 16 The terms shopkeeper and merchant referred to different types of traders. Shopkeepers were retailers, whereas merchants were wholesalers who imported goods from foreign markets. Some merchants also had retailing establishments. Hook and Samuel Rex, often carried an assortment of both dry goods such as textiles, accessories, household items, hardware, and tools, and wet goods such as groceries and alcoholic beverages. 19 In the 1790s, New Milford was home to several "merchants," although the types of inventory they carried are unknown. 20 In rural towns and villages, some tavern keepers also had goods for sale; New Milford historian Samuel Orcutt noted that several of the town's taverns also operated as stores. 21 The rural retail trade involved a far-reaching network of remote business connections to properly supply and manage inventories. Country shopkeepers journeyed to urban centers several times a year to sell off perishable country produce and restock their stores with fresh goods. 22 Samuel Rex regularly undertook the 75mile trip from Schaefferstown to Philadelphia, where he sold farm products collected from his customers and bought goods from merchants, auction houses, and ships unloading on the wharves. 23 John Hook had direct connections with his overseas suppliers to furnish his New London, Virginia, store, as well as business dealings with other merchants involved in importing goods to America. 24 According to Boardman's invoice book, which documents his accounts with suppliers, he spent several weeks in 18 Wenger,120. 19 Ann Smart Martin, Buying into the World of Goods: Early Consumers in Backcountry Virginia (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1; Wenger, 132. 20 Orcutt does not distinguish between merchants and shopkeepers; presumably many of the so-called merchants were actually shopkeepers. Samuel Orcutt, History of the Towns of New Milford and Bridgewater, Connecticut, 1703-1882(Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood and Brainard, 1882, Google ebook, 201-3. 21 Orcutt,495;Wenger,[35][36]. 22 Wenger provides a detailed explanation of the movement of goods between country stores and urban centers. Wenger,120,130,132. 24 Ann Smart Martin,1,15. New York in August and September 1783 buying goods for his store. 25 Later on, Boardman might have relied on his brother Daniel, who operated a wholesaling business in New York, to source his inventory.
Connecticut shopkeepers had the advantage of relative proximity to their suppliers. Most communities were within striking distance of cities on the major trade routes of the Connecticut River or the Atlantic coast; however, transporting goods to and from these markets even over relatively short distances was an arduous task. 26 Inland shopkeepers operating within the vicinity of the Connecticut River Valley could conduct business with the numerous wholesalers based in Hartford and Middletown. These local centers were primarily involved in the coasting and West Indies trades; European goods were generally sourced from Boston and New York. 27 Boardman's invoice books reveal that much of his merchandise came from New York, although he also had accounts with merchants and shopkeepers in Boston, Philadelphia,New Haven,Norwalk,and Danbury. 28 Country stores stocked an array of wares ranging from utilitarian to luxurious, fulfilling both customers' needs for essential items and their desires for fashionable and genteel goods. The myriad goods that fill the pages of Boardman's daybooks were 25  typical of what was sold in country stores at the time. The assortment includes groceries such as molasses, raisins, sugar, chocolate, and tea; alcoholic beverages such as rum, brandy, and wine; tools such as hammers, planes, awls, and chisels; hardware such as nails and hinges; household items such as flatware, cooking utensils, and mirrors; books; writing supplies; soap; glass windowpanes and so forth. Textiles, trimmings, sewing notions, and accessories make up a sizeable portion of the goods sold at Boardman's store. Other studies of shopkeepers' account books show that, generally, at least half of the goods sold at country stores were textiles and dressrelated goods. 29 While this study does not directly compare textiles and related items to other types of goods, a cursory evaluation of the distribution of goods sold indicates that they made up a significant portion of Boardman's trade as well.
In addition to selling consumer items, some shopkeepers also supplied craftspeople with tools and materials for local manufacture, and then sold the finished goods in their stores. Samuel Rex provided a local nailmaker with iron rods, from which he fabricated nails that were sold back to Rex for store credit. 30  these products for sale in his store. 32 Boardman also acted as a third-party financial intermediary for other transactions between local artisans and their customers. Several entries debited Boardman's customers for clothing and shoes made by New Milford's tailors and shoemakers, who then received a credit to their store account for this work.
Store credit thus became a form of currency itself that was exchanged for work done beyond the realm of the store.
Customers who shopped at country stores like Elijah Boardman's paid for their goods in a variety of ways. While some customers paid up front for their purchases, many bought goods using credit on terms ranging from a few weeks to several months. 33 Eventually, account holders paid debts with cash, commodity payments, or labor. 34 Commodity payments referred to goods such as agricultural products or locally manufactured items that were assigned cash values, and served as a common type of currency in country stores throughout America in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 35 The transactions recorded in Boardman's daybooks indicate that his customers participated in the same systems of exchange, buying goods on credit and making intermittent payments by cash, commodities, and labor. The commodities that Boardman's customers traded were wide-ranging and occasionally included textile items such as cloth, yarn, and rags. Boardman probably sold the homespun cloth and yarn in his store, while he sold the rags by the pound to a local paper mill. As a result of the region's thriving household dairying activities, dairy 32 Boardman Daybook 9 (March-September 1798), 5 May 1798, Elijah Boardman Accounts, 3:8; Boardman Daybook 4, 28 February 1785. 33 Wenger, Ibid.; Ann Smart Martin, 72-73. 35 Wenger,65. products such as butter and cheese were among the most common forms of commodity payment at Boardman's store.
Shopkeepers used bookkeeping systems of varying complexity to document these transactions and their other business activities. An eighteenth-century bookkeeping manual lists twelve different types of books used in a complete system, with each type serving a different purpose. 36 For some shopkeepers, a relatively simple, single-entry bookkeeping system was sufficient. Samuel Rex recorded transactions by day in a daybook and eventually copied the transactions into a ledger, which listed each account name alphabetically, followed by all the transactions made on the account that year. 37 Elijah Boardman apparently utilized a more complicated, double-entry system in which transactions and accounts were recorded in several different books. The extant collection of his account books includes daybooks, which were sometimes referred to as journals; blotters, simplified versions of daybooks also known as waste books; ledgers; balance books, or debt books, that totaled balances on accounts on the days that payments were due; and invoice books that recorded accounts with Boardman's suppliers and the other shopkeepers whom he supplied. 38 Much of the information in these books overlapped, but was organized differently by book type and used to cross-reference transactions by either date or name. 39 Debtor and Creditor (London, 1765), Google e-book, vi-ix. 37 Wenger, 104. 38 Dilworth, Ann Smart Martin,68. particularly useful for studying purchasing patterns because they capture the daily rhythms of customers and goods flowing in and out of the store.

Shopping at Country Stores
While account books provide detailed records of the activities that took place in country stores, the spaces in which these activities occurred are equally important to understanding the shopping experience. Although few such structures have survived, Elijah Boardman's store, which he built in 1793, is still intact on the grounds of the  42 The new shop was a gambrel-roof structure with a center doorway flanked by two large windows. The store's second story could be accessed from the outside by a large opening directly above the center entrance, through which goods could be hauled up to the storage area. Boardman had a brick tunnel constructed between his house and the store as a passageway between the store and additional storage in the house's basement. 43 The building's present interior offers little information about its layout when it operated as a store in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was first 40 This house was torn down in the late nineteenth century. Orcutt,495. 41 "Elijah Boardman," New Milford Historical Society genealogical files, New Milford, CT. 42 Carley,45. 43 Carley,48.   where it became a residence for several decades, and then was relocated again on the same street after 1914. 44 The building was moved to its current location just north of the town green on the grounds of the New Milford Historical Society in 1995. 45 In light of the many functions the building served since its construction, it likely has had a number of reconfigurations. In it current iteration, the building has one large room on the first floor and one large room on the second floor, which is accessed by a backcorner stairwell. The original flooring, which might have indicated locations of interior walls, doorways, stairwells, and counters, has not survived.
The original layout of Boardman's store can be conjectured from Ann Smart Martin's descriptions of country-store building types. The first floor was probably divided into two rooms: a front room accessed by the main door and a back room. 46 The front room was the store's primary public space. Large windows lit this room and might have displayed goods to entice customers from the street. 47  large part of the shopping experience in country stores was defined by the relationships between customers and shopkeepers, who had the ability to extend or limit customers' access to goods at their discretion.
Country stores were hubs of social and recreational, as well as commercial, activity in their communities. Accounts of shopping trips documented in journals reveal that such excursions could involve large family groups and last several hours. 58 For young people, and young women in particular, stores often served as venues in which to socialize without parental supervision. 59 Boardman's daybooks allude to some of the recreational aspects of his customers' comings and goings. Occurrences of several transactions charged to one account over the course of a day suggest that some of his customers lingered in the store for long periods of time, perhaps using the opportunity to catch up on news or gossip. Frequent purchases of trinkets, such as lengths of ribbon, intimate the pleasure of browsing through Boardman's goods for the novelty of some small ornament. Entries listing pairs of young women buying goods hint at unchaperoned social outings. These transactions attest to the steady stream of customers who populated his store daily to engage in both the business and pleasure of shopping.

Conclusion
As commerce flourished at the turn of the nineteenth century, country shopkeepers played increasingly important roles in the towns and villages of rural America. They acted as liaisons between consumers and the global marketplace by facilitating the exchange of local products with foreign goods sourced from often-58 Ann Smart Martin,165. 59 Ibid., 166-67. distant urban centers. Country produce was a common form of currency in these stores; in New Milford, Boardman's customers traded their surplus butter and cheese for buttons and handkerchiefs among other things. While shopkeepers brought imported wares into their communities, they also supported local trades by providing artisans such as tailors, hatters, and shoemakers with tools and materials, and, in some cases, an outlet in which to sell their products.
Country stores brimmed with goods and bustled with activity. Account books show that customers could obtain all manner of goods with cash, credit, or commodity payments. Shopping also served a recreational role: customers could socialize with friends and browse the store's selection while they made their purchases. Textiles and dress-related goods made up a large part of the business in these stores. The following chapters examine various aspects of these particular transactions at Boardman's store to illustrate the types of goods that his customers bought and their purchasing patterns.

Chapter Six An Overview of Textiles and Dress-Related Goods at Elijah Boardman's Store
Elijah Boardman stands proudly in front of a storeroom stocked to the ceiling with bolts of fabric of various sorts in his 1789 portrait. While Boardman sold many types of goods at his store, textiles are the only ones featured in his portrait, indicating the importance of this commodity to his business activities. Throughout the colonial and early national periods, cloth made up the largest portion of goods imported to America, providing many merchants and shopkeepers throughout the land with prosperous livelihoods. 1 The immense variety of textile types available by this time attests to the manufacturing prowess of a global industry that offered American consumers an unprecedented number of choices.
In a 1782 newspaper advertisement, Boardman's textile inventory received top billing-a list that included no fewer than twenty-three different textile types in a variety of colors and patterns-followed by numerous accessories, trimmings, and notions ( fig. 9). 2 Within the walls of one store, his customers could select from a diverse assortment of textiles and dress-related goods to suit their needs. The following analysis of the purchases recorded in Boardman's daybooks during 1784-85, 1797-98, and 1810-11 provides insights into the types of goods that people bought, demonstrating the wide range of textile and dress-related goods sold at Boardman's  store and the effects that technological innovations and fashion changes had on their consumption.

Textile Sales
During the three years examined for this study, Elijah Boardman's textile sales far exceeded those of any other related goods sold at his store. Each year, Boardman sold dozens of different textile types, from coarse utility fabrics to sumptuous silk dress goods. Entries of sales in Boardman's daybooks were brief, often lacking specific descriptions of color or pattern, but the textile names themselves reveal much about fiber types, weave structures, finishes, and possible end uses. In one word, "calimanco" describes a wool fabric with a glazed finish that was used for both men's and women's garments, women's shoes, and various furnishing textiles; the ¼ yard purchased by Stephen Chittenden, a shoemaker, on June 8, 1784, suggests that this fabric was intended for a pair of shoes. 3 Because they are a particularly rich source of information, textile purchases are discussed in depth in the following pages. This section focuses on the overall annual purchases of four textile groups-wool, cotton, linen, and silk-and the different textile types within these groups to determine the kinds of textiles acquired by Boardman's customers at his store and how this changed over time. The individual quantities of textiles purchased and their end uses also are addressed briefly here, but will be considered in more depth in the following chapter.

Cotton Textiles
Even as his customers continued to purchase many wool textiles into the early nineteenth century, the number of types and total yardage sold at Boardman's store decreased overall in 1797-98 1810-11. This decline was accompanied by a noteworthy increase in cotton textile sales as seen in table 2. While cotton textiles had been available to European and American consumers since the early seventeenth century, late eighteenth-century improvements in cotton spinning processes increased the supply and lowered their prices in the marketplace. 9 The growing availability of these textiles is reflected in the sales of 1797-98 and 1810-11, during which Boardman sold considerably more types and yardage of cotton textiles than in 1784-85. Cotton textiles at his store were comparable in cost to some of the mid-priced wool textiles in 1784-85; in later years, their prices had dropped substantially.
The desire for cotton textiles proliferated as they became more easily obtainable, particularly for printed types such as calicoes and chintzes. These textiles were favored for their novel designs, which ranged from simple, one-color geometric prints to complex, five-color floral and foliate motifs. 10 The difference between calico and chintz during this period is unclear. Calico referred both to the plain cotton textiles upon which designs could be printed and to printed cotton textiles in general. 11 Chintzes were printed cotton textiles that were often, but not always, finished with a 9 Beverly  glaze. 12 Boardman sold large quantities of both types in all three years; the average price of chintz at his store was one to two shillings higher than that of calico, indicating that the fabrics were distinct.
Muslin, sold in 1797-98 and 1810-11, was a lightweight, often-white, textile favored for the delicate gowns and accessories that came into fashion at the turn of the nineteenth century. 18 Gingham, a cotton textile with colored striped or checks that was used for both men's and women's garments, also appeared in his daybooks in 1797-98 and 1810-11. 19 Nankeen, a cotton fabric imported in great quantities from China by American merchants after the Revolution, was a popular textile for men's clothing in the late-eighteenth century, as seen in its peak sales at Boardman's store in 1797-98. 20 Boardman's flourishing sales of cotton textiles were not limited to fashionable garment fabrics: by 1797-98 he was selling a large quantity of humhum, an inexpensive cotton fabric used for toweling. 21 This signaled the gradual replacement of linen with cotton even in basic utility fabrics. Sales of cotton cassimere, coating, cambric and shirting in 1810-11, textiles that had previously been manufactured from wool and linen but by the early nineteenth century were also produced from cotton, further reflect this trend.

Linen Textiles
Boardman's customers also purchased various types of linen textiles at his store, although their sales also decreased appreciably with the influx of inexpensive cotton textiles in the early nineteenth century. Until this point, linen textiles were an essential part of most early American households. local production did not fully meet the demand for linen textiles, as seen in the robust sales of linen textiles at Boardman's store in 1784-85 and 1797-98 (table 3).
For the most part, the prices of linen textiles sold at Boardman's store ranged from two to four shillings, similar to the prices of his inexpensive wool and cotton textile types. This suggests that majority of Boardman's linen sales were thus of middle-to lower-grade textiles, which perhaps were comparable to the linen textiles produced by local weavers. He sold large quantities of tow cloth, a cheap, coarse fabric manufactured from short flax fibers called tow. This fabric generally was used for utility purposes such as grain sacks. 23 A number of accounts were credited for tow cloth, revealing that local weavers made at least some of Boardman's stock and exchanged their products at his store. Most of the other linen textiles Boardman sold each year were recorded in his daybooks simply as "linen." These entries were occasionally accompanied by descriptors such as "brown" (meaning unbleached), "checked," "striped," or "fine." Boardman did sell small amounts of high-quality linen textiles such as lawn and cambric, likely used for fine accessories such as caps, sleeve and neck ruffles, aprons, and handkerchiefs, which were priced between seven and twelve shillings per yard. Boardman's linen textile sales suggest that a clear division of type and quality between domestically produced textiles and store-bought textiles did not always exist.
In 1784-85 and 1797-98, his customers purchased large amounts of utilitarian linen textiles alongside British broadcloth and chintz. Even in the case of common linen and cotton textiles, the labor, equipment, and expertise required to produce such textiles at home generally outweighed the cost of purchasing them from a store. 24 By 1810-11, linen sales dropped precipitously while calico sales nearly doubled from their 1797-98 levels, indicating that store-bought printed cotton textiles had largely taken the place of linen in common clothing. * prices reflect range in shillings/pence ** denotes textile that may or may not be linen *** total does not include possible linen textiles

Overall Textile Sales
The highest-selling textiles in all three years reflect the same patterns seen in sales of textile groups and types (table 5). Boardman's customers predominantly bought textiles in the middle to lower price ranges and of the sorts that would typically be found in the modest homes and wardrobes of farmers and tradesmen. Boardman sold large quantities of camblet, durant, and linen in 1784-85 when wool and linen textiles still made up the majority of men's and women's garments. Cotton-textile purchases increased steadily over the three years while sales in wool, silk, and linen textiles fell as technology advanced, fashions changed, and prices dropped. Calico sales in 1810-11 were significantly higher than sales of any other textile in all three years, portending the dominance of inexpensive printed cotton textiles among the dress of the middle and lower classes throughout the nineteenth century.
Although it was not until the 1830s that the widespread use of cylinder-printing machines enabled American factories to produce millions of yards of these fabrics, by 1810-11 Boardman's customers were already avid consumers of calico. 27 The sales of calico in 1810-11, which surpassed those of any other textile type in earlier years, further suggests a growing reliance on store-bought textiles over those produced domestically.

Trimmings
Boardman offered an abundance of trimmings among the large selection of yard goods for sale at his store ( fashion, which perhaps accounts for the drop in lace sales that year. Ribbon sales remained strong in 1810-11 however, as they continued to decorate women's hairstyles, hats, and bonnets in the early nineteenth century. * pieces/yards ** looping in 97-98 = bunch/pieces/pounds/yards; tape in 10-11 = pieces/sticks/yards *** pieces/bunches ° price range from yards to pieces Note: Pieces and bunches were units of measure denoting several yards, although the specific length of each varied from one trimming or textile to another. The store sold some trimmings, such as looping, by the pound.
In addition to purchases of decorative ribbons and lace at Boardman's store, more utilitarian types of trimming included tape, binding, and edging. Some, such as taste and ferret, were often of silk; others were made from wool, cotton, or linen.
Judging from the quantities purchased, such items served many functions in the households and wardrobes of Boardman's customers. They had a range of garmentrelated uses such as edge binding on shoes and petticoats, and ties on waistcoats, petticoats, aprons, and jackets. Tapes and bindings were probably also purchased for household uses such as ties and edging on drapery. It is unclear why the sales of these functional trimmings declined substantially in 1810-11; perhaps one of Boardman's competitors offered better prices on these items or Boardman no longer stocked as much as he had previously.

Notions, Tools, and Materials
Elijah Boardman not only supplied his customers with the textiles and trimmings for garments and household textiles, but also with the notions and tools to make them. His customers purchased fastenings such as buttons, hooks and eyes, and buckles alongside yard goods for clothing. The hundreds of skeins and hanks of silk, thread, and twist sold at his store each year, along with needles, pins, thimbles, and scissors demonstrate that sewing was a regular activity within the households of his customers. While many households employed professional tailors and gownmakers to make more complex outer garments such as coats, breeches, and gowns, wives, daughters, and female servants also produced clothing. 31 Skilled artisans often cut, fitted, and basted garments together, leaving the time-consuming work of stitching to their customers. 32 The making of simple linen undergarments, accessories, and furnishing textiles such as bedding was typically done in the home, as well as the general maintenance of the household's apparel. 33 Whether simply mending or producing full garments, sewing was a daily task in the households of Boardman's customers. 31 The diaries and correspondence cited by Miller and Nylander reveal that the amount of clothing production undertaken by wives and daughters varied among households. Women who were adept at needlework often produced large quantities of their families' clothing at home, whereas other women preferred (and had the resources) to hire this work out to others. Boardman's customers also regularly purchased tools and materials used in various aspects of textile production. Regular sales of dyestuffs and mordants such as indigo, logwood, copperas, and alum in all three years indicate that domestic production of textiles continued even with the proliferation of inexpensive storebought textiles. Boardman also sold tools and materials for fiber processing and spinning, although the rate of these sales declined over the decades as factories began to take over this work. Customers purchased more wool cards, used in the preparation of wool fibers for spinning, in 1784-85 than in 1797-98, and bought even fewer in 1810-11. The establishment of carding mills throughout the New England countryside at the turn of the nineteenth century relieved many rural households of the tedious labor of hand carding wool, which could instead be sent out to the carding mill. 34 Entries in Boardman's 1810-11 daybook debited several accounts for wool carded at a local mill, showing that his customers availed themselves of this service for wool roving that they then spun into yarn at home. 35 Purchases of cotton wool (raw cotton fiber) for spinning into knitting yarn were also most frequent in 1784-85 prior to the establishment of cotton spinning factories in New England during the 1790s. 36 By 1810-11, Boardman's customers preferred skeins of spun cotton yarn to cotton wool.

Garments and Accessories
Some eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century shopkeepers advertised Later that week, Sherman Noble returned a pair of leather breeches to the store. 39 It is notable that two of the garments were second-hand; perhaps Boardman sold these items on consignment or even from his own wardrobe. In this period, second-hand clothing was a commodity of some value that could be traded for cash or goods; Boardman might have accepted these articles as payment from his customers. 40 In all three years, Boardman sold items referred to as "vest patterns" in his daybooks. The exact nature of these items is unclear, as commercial paper patterns did not come into use until later in the nineteenth century. 41  shapes," as well as one of mock cassimere and one of silk without borders in his stock. 42 The use of "shape" and "bord'd" in their description suggests that such items had some sort of outlined shape rather than being merely patterned yardage.
Newspaper advertisements show that other eighteenth-century shopkeepers sold breeches, jacket, and gown patterns. 43 While these listings show that "patterns" were not limited to vests, they offer little conclusive information regarding the specifics of such items.
Most of the finished goods that Boardman sold were accessories of various sorts, ranging from commonplace brown hemp work gloves to expensive strings of gold beads (table 7). As with their textile purchases, some of his customers indulged in costly luxury items while most sought out more practical goods. These sales also reflect the changing fashions of the period. In the early 1780s, women wore decorative aprons of fine materials as fashion accessories. 44  gowns. 45 Boardman sold many shawls in 1797-98 and 1810-11, some of which were described as "cambric," "chintz," "cotton," or "muslin." Perhaps some of his most expensive shawls were the highly esteemed Kashmir shawls imported from India or the European copies thereof. Fashionable women of the period prized these fine wool shawls with their distinctive woven patterns; the women of New Milford's first families likely also adopted this fashion. 46  related goods sourced from distant lands, but one where his customers could also acquire items produced in their own neighborhood.

Conclusion
Country dry-goods stores were places where customers could acquire all manner of textiles and dress-related goods. Elijah Boardman's store was no exception: within its confines New Milford's residents could purchase many of the items needed to appoint their wardrobes and their households. The rolls of tow cloth and humhum that sat alongside the bolts of silk velvet and superfine broadcloth attest to the fact that Boardman's customers sought textiles that were commonplace and utilitarian as well as those that were fashionable and luxurious. Most of their textile purchases at his store were of practical, inexpensive types suited to the needs of the modest households In addition to textiles, Boardman's customers bought a variety of trimmings and accessories to embellish and update their garments. These items also sold in many types and at varying price points, allowing even his more humble customers to ornament themselves with store-bought goods. While some of these things, such as handkerchiefs, came from distant lands, Boardman also provided business for the local artisans who made some of the hats and shoes that he sold to his customers.
Boardman's store also provided the tools and materials needed to produce textiles and clothing. Alongside finished yard goods, his customers bought cards, cotton wool, and dyestuff with which to manufacture textiles at home. These purchases demonstrate that domestic textile production continued even as store-bought textiles became more affordable. However, changes in the types of tools and materials purchased between 1784-85 and 1810-11 reflect the increasing mechanization of many textile-related processes even within the realm of home manufacturing. Whether they donned homemade or store-bought textiles, Boardman's customers produced and maintained much of their clothing and household textile items, as seen in the large quantities of buttons, thread, pins, and needles they bought.
The textile and dress-related goods that Boardman's customers purchased reveal much about their tastes as consumers and how these tastes evolved over a period of great changes in the material world of textiles and clothing. In addition to documenting what people bought, his daybooks also recorded who made the purchases. The following chapter takes a closer look at the people who bought these goods, how often they purchased them, and how much they acquired to broaden our understanding of the consumer experience at Boardman's store.

Chapter Seven Elijah Boardman's Customers and Their Purchasing Patterns
On October 19, 1784, Apphia and Mabel Ruggles went on an extensive shopping excursion to Boardman's store. The young women, aged 29 and 23, were the unmarried daughters of Lazarus Ruggles, a prosperous farmer and businessman. 1 Accompanied by their father, Apphia and Mabel made the several-mile journey from their farm on the outskirts of New Milford to Boardman's store, where they charged £11.3s worth of textiles, trimmings, notions, and accessories to their father's account. 2 Among the items that the women purchased that day were 7¾ yards of lustring and 3 yards of green sarcenet, both lightweight dress silks that were presumably intended for a fine new gown and petticoat. They also acquired 23½ yards of ribbon, 4 yards of lace, and 10 yards of narrow edging with which to trim their gowns, caps, and hats. A stylish chip hat and three gauze handkerchiefs were also part of the Ruggles' order.
This was not Mabel and Apphia's only visit to the store that week: the previous day the two women bought 6 yards of calico, four ostrich feathers, and two pairs of purple gloves to round out their fashionable ensembles. 3 Apphia and Mabel Ruggles' shopping trips were not the typical experience of the majority of Boardman's customers, most of whom did not spend in an entire year the amount that the Ruggles spent in one day. Their transactions do represent one end of the wide spectrum of purchases made in Boardman's store, which ranged from luxury goods like silk velvet, beaver hats, and strings of gold beads, to more prosaic items, such as coarse tow cloth, papers of pins, and woolen mittens. The same two days that Apphia and Mabel splurged on fancy goods, other customers made small purchases of a few darning needles, a pocket handkerchief, and some cotton wool for spinning into yarn. 4 Boardman's store provided New Milford's residents with a wide array of textiles and dress-related goods to meet both consumer desires and utilitarian household needs, but who were his customers and what were their shopping habits?
This chapter identifies the types of customers who shopped for textiles and dress-related goods at Boardman's store. It explores the networks of consumers often involved in acquiring store-bought goods by considering the participants who made these purchases in addition to the account holders. A profile of Boardman's thirty most frequent customers follows, which draws from their vital statistics and financial records. These customers' textile purchases are examined in depth to better understand their acquisition of store-bought textiles. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the purchases of women and non-white individuals represented among Boardman's account holders. These transactions offer insights into the consumer experience beyond that of the white, male account holders who dominated Boardman's daybooks.

Account Holders, Purchasers, and Deliveries
Between the beginning of June 1784 and the end of May 1785, over 650 different account holders made textile and apparel-related purchases at Boardman's store. During that same period in 1797 and 1798, this number reached 700. Over the slightly shorter period documented between mid-August 1810 and the end of June 1811, more than 400 accounts were charged in such transactions. In all three years, close to three-quarters of the accounts had three or fewer transactions per year during which textiles and dress-related goods were purchased. The relative infrequency of such purchases indicates the likelihood that Boardman's customers also shopped at the other stores in New Milford, possibly travelling further afield to Litchfield or Hartford for some of their textile needs. Some of these customers simply might not have had the means to purchase many store-bought goods at Boardman's store or elsewhere, instead sourcing textiles and dress-related goods from local producers or making them at home.
In contrast, the account of Homer Boardman, Elijah's brother, was charged for fifty textile and dress-related transactions in 1797-98 and sixty-five such transactions in 1810-11. It is possible that Homer and his household shopped almost exclusively at his brother's store because of this family connection; his account may therefore provide a more complete picture of a household's annual consumption of store-bought textiles and dress-related goods. See Appendices C and D for a complete record of these transactions. However, as one of New Milford's wealthiest residents, Homer Boardman probably acquired more store-bought goods than many of his neighbors.
Based on the amounts and types of textiles charged to the accounts of Boardman's other most frequent customers, they, too, acquired such goods through other channels.
Other commercial histories reveal early American consumers to be educated and skilled shoppers, often going to great lengths to acquire the best goods at the best prices. 5 Most likely, purchases made at Boardman's store only represent a portion of his customers' overall acquisition of textiles and dress-related goods.
Boardman's customers purchased textiles and dress-related goods in every month of each year. The peak months and the slowest months of these purchases

1810-1811
Textile-related transactions were charged to a number of different account holders, including businesses, public entities (the town and the state), and individuals.   suggests an intricate web of connections through which some of Boardman's customers made their purchases.
Transactions that involve deliveries reveal another aspect of the collaboration among household and neighborhood networks in the textile and dress-related purchases made at Boardman's store. Like those involving a secondary purchaser, these exchanges only represent a small portion of the overall transactions that took place within each year, but they occurred regularly enough to note. Delivery transactions were recorded in the daybooks along with the items purchased as "del'd David Green pr order" or simply "del'd your daughter." 17 These individuals might have acted as couriers by bringing requests from the account holders, recorded as a "verbal order" in the daybooks, to the store and returning with the purchased goods.
As deliverers of goods to the account holders, they appear to have much the same function as the proxy shoppers, yet their roles were recorded differently. While the daybooks list some immediate family members as deliverers rather than purchasers, most of the deliverers apparently were not related to the account holders, as indicated by their different last names. The regular notation of "pr order" or "pr direction" also suggests that the deliverers were acting on specific instructions from the account holder rather than choosing the goods themselves. Deliverers were perhaps more limited in their agency than the purchasers in that they simply fulfilled requests and transported goods, whereas purchasers might have had more input in selection if they were not buying the goods for themselves.
Delivery transactions also might have been instances in which the account holder purchased goods and then had them delivered to someone else. As seen in Chapter Five, store credit was commonly given as payment from one account to another in exchange for goods or services. The account holders perhaps purchased goods at the store to pay the recipients. Alternately, the recipient might have been employed by the account holder to make clothing from the delivered goods. However, this group is not entirely homogenous: the few outliers among them-the young, single men and women who also frequented Boardman's store-demonstrate that individuals in other life stages were also active consumers of textiles and dressrelated goods.
New Milford tax lists from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries provide a sense of the financial standing of the customers within this group. The many exemptions allowed by Connecticut's tax regulations during the period make the lists an imprecise measure of wealth, but do allow for a rough estimation of economic status. Unsurprisingly, most of these customers are among New Milford's middling or *Earliest year for which tax records were available. ** Taxes owed jointly with brother  Changing fashions also affected textile needs. Early nineteenth-century women's gowns were slimmer than their eighteenth-century counterparts, and the open-robe style that necessitated a coordinating petticoat had fallen out of fashion.
Men's styles followed this trend as well: the narrower and shorter coats and vests worn in 1810-11 also required less yardage than those from 1784-85. Aside from fashion considerations, the costliness of textiles called for extreme economy in cutting throughout this period. Garments were frequently cut along opposing grainlines and pieced together to maximize yardage, practices that allowed a skillful hand to eke out a garment from surprisingly little fabric. 34 Boardman's customers purchased textiles in a wide range of lengths, from ¼yard pieces of gauze to 15-yard lengths of tow cloth, but the majority of textiles were bought in relatively short lengths. More than half the textile lengths purchased by twenty-nine of the thirty most-frequently charged accounts were less than or equal to 3 yards. At least one-third of the textiles purchased annually by twenty-one accounts measured less than or equal to 1 yard in length. While all the customers in this group 30 Baumgarten,7. intermittently purchased textile lengths greater than 3 yards, these purchases generally represent less than one-third of an account's annual textile consumption at Boardman's store. Even his best customer, Homer Boardman, who purchased approximately 129 yards of textiles in 1810-11, bought more than twice as many small textile lengths measuring 1 yard or less (30) than those measuring over 3 yards (14). bought nine pieces of calico. She purchased textile types commonly found in a woman's wardrobe, but did not buy any fabrics for men's garments.

Female Customers
The bill that Apphia and Mabel Ruggles ran up in October 1784 was charged to their father's account. The notation of their names next to their absent father's, in addition to the feminine items they selected, provide the only evidence of their presence in the store. Most of the women who shopped at Boardman's store remain invisible, only emerging from the background in the absence of male account holders.
The role of women as customers in early American stores has come under much debate because contemporary recordkeeping typically documented male account holders and not the women who often accompanied them. However, a small number of women did hold their own accounts at Boardman's store, offering a glimpse of their habits as consumers of store-bought textiles and dress-related goods.
In keeping with the overall patterns at the store, only a small portion of female account holders regularly purchased textiles and dress-related items. Most female account holders made three or fewer textile-or dress-related transactions during 1784-85, 1797-98, and 1810-11. Even among the most-frequently charged women's accounts, substantially fewer transactions took place than on the most-frequently charged men's accounts. Boardman's female account holders also might have bought textiles and dress-related goods on other male accounts. Apphia and Mabel Ruggles' purchases were occasionally charged to an account under their own names, although they also made purchases on their father's account. Like most of Boardman's customers, these women probably shopped elsewhere; therefore these transactions only represent a portion of their overall consumption of such items. Their lower rates of purchasing may also indicate that female account holders, who were typically widows or single women, had fewer resources than men and were thus more limited as consumers of store-bought goods.
The annual purchases of a sample group of five women, selected from the accounts with the highest number of repeat visits, show that female account holders' purchasing patterns were similar to those of male account holders. See appendix E for a complete record of these transactions. They, too, bought a variety of items, including textiles, trimming, notions, and finished goods. Textiles made up the largest annual expenditure of dress-related goods on most women's accounts; they also generally purchased textiles in short lengths and a variety of types. The distribution of textiles is also comparable: female customers bought more wool, linen, and silk textiles in 1784-85 and 1797-98 than 1810-11. Their purchases of cotton textiles steadily increased over the three years and, by 1810-11, were by far the most commonly acquired textiles. Unsurprisingly, certain items such as buckram and buttons, which were used primarily in men's garments during this period, are notably absent from most women's accounts. Overall, the goods purchased on women's accounts do not differ substantially from those purchased on men's accounts, which were mostly household accounts held by men with wives and daughters. These similarities suggest that women were actively involved in making purchases of textiles and dress-related goods on household accounts, selecting many of the same goods as women with accounts in their own names. The majority of Boardman's customers only infrequently bought textiles and dress-related goods at his store. They acquired these goods from his store during all months of the year, but their purchasing rates increased during the late fall in conjunction with the harvest and holiday season, and fell during the slow winter months of poor weather. Many of his customers probably patronized the town's other stores, seeking better prices and/or different selections, while some simply could not afford to acquire many store-bought items. Boardman's most regular customers were typically, although not exclusively, prosperous men in their 30s or 40s with families.
These account holders had the resources to make frequent purchases to meet the needs of their growing households.
The textile purchases of Boardman's most-frequent customers demonstrate that individual households sought store-bought textiles for a variety of purposes. Accounts were charged for a range of textile types with which to appoint both wardrobes and homes. Over the years, the distribution of textile types shifted as individual account holders responded to changing fashions and technological advancements with the acquisition of more cotton textiles. Throughout this period, these customers mostly bought textiles in shorter lengths of 3 yards or less. This pattern reflects the economical practices of refurbishing and repairing garments and household-textile items that prevailed at a time when fabrics were relatively costly commodities.
The purchases of textiles and dress-related goods made by female and nonwhite account holders at Boardman's store follow similar patterns to those made by white, male account holders. Factors of gender or race do not appear to have substantially impacted the selection of these store-bought goods. However, the experience of shopping at the store might have played different roles in the lives of these customer groups. The shopping habits of some of his young female customers illustrate the social and recreational aspects of buying textiles and dress-related goods.
For the enslaved customers, acquiring such goods afforded them the opportunity to exercise independence of choice as consumers. These customer groups demonstrate both the sociability and empowerment associated with shopping for textiles and dressrelated goods that many of Boardman's customers no doubt experienced to some degree.

Chapter Eight Conclusion
In 1800, Elijah Allen of Cornwall, Connecticut, wrote the following about the household industry in his town: The In all its flowery prose, Allen's response to the questionnaire sent to all of the state's towns and cities by the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science in the late 1790s describes the very same exchanges taking place just twenty miles to the south at Elijah Boardman's store. The transactions that fill the pages of Boardman's daybooks demonstrate how the residents of New Milford acquired both the "necessaries for family use" and the "elegancies of superb dress" at his store. These records, which document the people and wares that passed through Boardman's store, reveal the wide spectrum of experiences that his customers had with store-bought textiles and dress-related goods.
Typical of the many rural communities throughout New England in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the small town of New Milford was home to a population that included members of the wealthy country gentry along with humble slaves and laborers. The region's bountiful agricultural and industrial activities employed many of its residents. Others worked in trades, providing their neighbors with goods of local manufacture. The various labors of New Milford's residents, rich and poor alike, allowed them to acquire consumer goods at the several stores in the town. While records from the rest of these stores have not survived, the extensive collection of Elijah Boardman's account books provides many insights into his customers and the purchases they made at his store. While Boardman gave the residents of New Milford access to an array of goods obtained from distant industrial centers, his store was also a source of supplies for local manufacturing. His customers bought tools and materials with which to make textiles at home alongside their purchases of finished yard goods.
He also offered important services to local artisans. In addition to providing local shoemakers and hatters with tools and materials, Boardman's store was an outlet through which to sell their wares. Store credit served as a method of payment even in direct exchanges of goods and labor between tradespeople and their customers.
Patterns of acquisition also emerge from Boardman's daybooks. Overall, most of his customers individually only made a few purchases of textiles and dress-related goods each year. This suggests that many also shopped elsewhere and that some could not afford to acquire many store-bought textiles at all. Their rates of purchasing followed seasonal patterns consistent with agricultural cycles and holidays that occasioned gift-giving and new clothes.
Looking beyond the goods recorded in the daybooks brings into focus the individuals who bought textiles and dress-related goods at Boardman's store.
Most of the accounts belonged to white, male heads of households, but the actual purchases of these items often involved other people of varying relationships to the account holders. Acquiring goods at Boardman's store sometimes encompassed extended networks of family, neighbors, and business; individuals within these networks purchased goods both for themselves and on behalf of the account holders.
Although the accounts of white, married men prevailed in the pages of Boardman's daybooks, women and non-white individuals-both enslaved and free-also numbered among the account holders at his store. Their purchases of textiles and dress-related goods demonstrate many of the same needs, desires, and habits of Boardman's other customers, suggesting that these purchases were not always determined along lines of gender or race. The purchasing patterns of these customer groups also illustrate the aspects of sociability and empowerment involved in shopping at Boardman's store.
The scope of this project allowed only for a selective analysis of the