In Gotham's Shadow: Globalization and Community Change in Central New York

Appendix B: Newspaper Advertisement Data

161 Appendix B Newspaper Advertisement Data The type and location of retail advertisements was coded for specific dates at five-year intervals in the Cooperstown Freeman’s Journal and the Utica Observer-Dispatch. This allowed tracking of the location of newspaper advertisers throughout the communities over a long period of time, thus allowing an analysis of the impact of the automobile and suburbanization. For the Freeman’s Journal, the first Saturday in July at five-year intervals between 1899 and 1984; after 1984, the location of advertisements was quite sporadic as the newspaper had redefined its market during the 1970s from being a “Cooperstown” newspaper to a “Otsego County” newspaper, thus allowing it to sell advertisements all over the region. By the middle of the 1970s, any clear pattern as to where advertisers were located was overshadowed by the regional nature of the newspaper. However, the advertisements provide a good record of the types of goods and services for sale in the Cooperstown and, in a more limited way, Hartwick areas prior to 1980. Newspaper accounts, high school yearbooks, telephone books, and interviews provided information from the late 1950s through 2000. Advertisements in the Observer-Dispatch were coded for the first Saturday in December at five-year intervals between 1899 and 1999. Data for the 1990s is of questionable value due to the scarcity of advertisements in the downtown area and the dominance of nationalbrand and chain-store advertising. Also, retailers increasingly advertised on television. Data from 1899 through the 1980s is quite good, however , and shows very clearly the dominance of downtown stores earlier in the twentieth century and the rise of the suburbs. Locations were coded as either in the central business district, city neighborhoods , or suburban locations. In addition to locations, advertisements were classified as 1) clothing or department stores; 2) specialty shops; 3) whole or supply companies ; 4) food and drug stores; 5) transportation (horse, buggy, or automobile dealerships). ...