THE FIGHT TO CONTROL WARTIME INFLATION.


The Price Act or, the List of the Prices now in Force in the Town of Ipswich, for the Prevention of Monopoly and Oppression. Salem, MA: E. Russell, February 10, 1777. Letterpress broadside with woodcut illustrations, 435 x 340 mm. Page toned, dampstain affecting lower half, 3/4 inch loss at upper left corner.There are many hardships during wartime, but one of the most frustrating is uncontrollable inflation, which makes it difficult for both military and civilians alike to provide the fundamentals. The state of Massachusetts passed a law in 1777 imposing price ceilings on wages and prices, ordering "that the Select-Men and Committees of Correspondence, etc, in the several Towns in this State, shall be, and they thereby are impowered and directed to affix and set in their respective Towns, what such Articles and Goods, as are in the said Act enumerated ... shall be sold for in their Towns respectively...." The present broadside lists the prices set by the Ipswich Selectmen for the goods and services available in their community, and as such it provides an illuminating glimpse into everyday life during the Revolution. The goods listed include beef, barley, cocoa, chocolate, cheese ("manufactured in America, a 6 d. a pound"), cotton, homespun cloth, wool cloth, coffee, candles, flax, flannel, hay, hogsheads, iron, lambs, molasses, pork, salted pork, potatoes, salt sugar, staves, stockings, "sadlery ware," and leather shoes, among other items. The services include barbering ("For Shaving transient Customers, four coppers a time; and for Shaving by the year, once a week, 6 s., 8 d. a year"), horse-shoeing, horse-keeping, general labor, lodgings, and shoe-making, among others.The broadside ends with a catch-all reference to other industries not specifically addressed: "It is required that Goldsmiths, Brickmakers, Weavers, Glaziers, Painters, and all other Tradesmen, not herein mentioned, that they govern and regulate their Work, both as to Stock and Labor, according, and in Proportion to the foregoing Regulations ... SAMUEL LORD, Chairman."