American and Commercial Daily Advertiser – Page 6

See explanations below this image about the green-shaded ads for more information about the words used and to hear the ad being read aloud.

John Campbell White

Fireworks

Column 1, ad 3

Fabrics

Column 2, ad 1

Lottery

Column 2, midway down

Bandanoes

Column 3, ad 2

Baths

Column 4, ad 1

Bankruptcy

Column 5, ads 3 and 5


Column 1, ad 3: Fireworks

Today we call them fireworks, not fire work, but they were the way to celebrate the 4th of July even in 1810, when the United States was only 34 years old! The advertised spectacle would be impressive even by today’s standards. This display was also to be accompanied by an orchestra, which suggests that “sound and light” shows are not as new a development as we might think.


Column 2, ad 1: Fabrics

Generations before there were stores like Jo-Anne fabrics and even clothing stores, people bought their clothes and the fabrics for them in a different way. At this early period of American history there was almost no manufacturing of cloth, no distribution network for selling it, and in fact very few places where ready-made clothing could be bought. The people of Baltimore kept a keen eye out for ads like this one that told them when a ship carrying newly imported fabrics had come to port.


Column 2, midway down: Lottery


Do you ever play the lottery? If so, you’re engaging in a time-honored occupation. The people of Baltimore, though they did not have a Maryland lottery, had the opportunity to buy tickets in the New York lottery, in the hope of winning vast sums of money.


Column 3, ad 2: Bandanoes


You have probably seen the kind of handkerchief called a bandanna. The word in this ad, bandanoes, is the original. It denoted a kind of tie-dying, in which the parts of the fabric that were tied remained white because they received no dye. A modern bandanna is printed with a typical pattern, one feature of which is the white spots that were also found on the original fabric.


Column 4, ad 1: Baths


A private bath at home that contained a bathtub was a luxury that few people had even heard of in 1810. People used public baths to get clean. It was an activity that people were likely to engage in about once a week rather than once a day, so public baths advertised the many facilities they had to make visitors enjoy their stay.

Column 5, ads 3 and 5: Bankruptcy


It was a lot easier to declare yourself bankrupt in the early 19th century than it is today: people declared their bankruptcy by putting a notice like this in the paper. They would still face the same problems that people today deal with: an inability to get credit afterwards.

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Fanni is Radnóti's wife
Located near the Tang capital city of Chang’an, site of the modern city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, in central China.
Soldiers of that time commonly wore a white head cloth, similar to what is still worn by some peasants in China today.  The implication is that the conscripts were so young that they didn’t know how to wrap their head cloths, and needed help from elders.
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
The area of Guanxi, meaning “west of the passes”, refers to the area around the capital city of Chang’an.
This is an alternative name for a province in western China, now known as Qinghai, which literally means “blue sea”.  Kokonor Lake, located in Qinghai, is the largest saline lake in China.  
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
Oulart Hollow was the site of a famous victory of the Irish rebels over British troops, which took place on May 27, 1798. The rebels killed nearly all the British attackers in this battle. (Source: Maxwell, W. H. History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. H. H. Bohn, London 1854, pp 92-93, at archive.org)
The phrase "United Men" is elaborated upon in the Notes section below.

Ghetto


An Italian word meaning “foundry.” It originally referred to a part of the city of Venice where the Jews of that city were forced to live; the area was called “the ghetto” because there was a foundry nearby. The term eventually came to refer to any part of a city in which a minority group is forced to live as a result of social, legal, or economic pressure. Because of the restrictions placed upon them, ghetto residents are often impoverished.

"You’re five nine, I am do-uble two"


A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.

"The Currency"


Meaning US dollars - this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.

"Sixty years with the dom-ino stuck"


This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other - like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck - no one else followed through into communism.

رحلنا


رحلنا, or "rahalna," means "we have left."

Habibi


Habibi means "my love."

Ra7eel


Ra7eel, or "raheel," means "departure."

3awda


3awda, or "awda," means "returning."

أهلاً


أهلاً, or "ahalan," means "welcome."

a5 ya baba


a5 ya baba, pronounced "akh ya baba," means "Oh my father."