Advertising the London mantua-maker: investigating the advertising strategies and the evolution of the trade in the late eighteenth century

During the eighteenth century, mantua-makers established themselves as one of the most significant fashion trades, making gowns and petticoats for women across the social spectrum. The trade was almost exclusively female and considered a ‘genteel and profitable employ’.Footnote1 If gentility and respectability came primarily from the fact that few mantua-makers ran public-facing shops and much of their work was carried out away from the public gaze, then the question arises, how did these women attract the customers necessary for a business to be profitable? This article examines two options available to mantua-makers, the mediums of newspaper advertisements and trade cards. A survey of the London newspapers reveals how mantua-makers in the city navigated the tensions between gentility and commercial exposure, what goods (if any) they advertised and whether personal networks were key to sustaining a successful business. It also considers whether the use of trade cards and handbills was widespread, and what they can uncover about the evolution of the business during the late eighteenth century.