Everyone needed to sell, rent, buy, give or exchange something. 

In the first years of the neighbourhood’s formation, the population that settled there was made up of people of very different nationalities and trades, from sailors, tradesmen and craftsmen to soldiers and, of course, fishermen. What a “fun” cocktail! 

The merchants used the ground floor of the houses as workshops or shops of all kinds. There was a proliferation of cafés, taverns, small hotels and guesthouses and a series of establishments and services necessary for people of different origins who had just arrived and were settling down or were just passing through.

If we think that these were previously unknown people who had to communicate what they did, offered or needed, it is easy to guess that they had to make themselves known. Or what we now call advertise.

Lemons from Malaga, olives from Seville or a deer!

Among the advertisements found, we’ve selected some quite representative and curious ones.

For example, at the end of the 18th century, the Stirling family (clearly of foreign origin) had a food and drink business opposite La Riba. On the 11^th of October 1792, they used the Barcelona Gazette to publish their offer of lemons from Malaga and olives from Seville. Both retail and wholesale.

Francisco Naranja, a resident of Seville Street, a seller of all kinds of animals, advertised the sale of a deer on the 10^th of October 1794. What happened to the deer? A good question.

Cash in now or never. 

But possibly the one that has most caught our attention is that of Joan Casanovas, alias “el Sardo”, a mule rentee. On the 16^th of April 1796, Mr Joan announced his imminent death in El Diario de Barcelona. El Sardo, with a surprising sincerity and serenity that does him credit, warns – and thanks – his creditors or debtors to collect or satisfy their debts before his imminent death. Undoubtedly, not only did Sardo want to die in peace with God, but also in peace with the world.. 

The first sausages.

At this time, the location of the place of sale was approximate. Not every street had a name and not every house had a number. But everyone knew each other or knew where you could find the seller.

The Diario de Barcelona reported on the 3^rd of February 1824 that four Bolognese (natives of Bologna) who made sausages and offered to work for others in their production had arrived in Barceloneta. They could be found at La Posada de la Paloma, located in Plaça de la Font. Curiously enough, where the Mercat with its corresponding charcuteries is nowadays. 

Good quality leeches

If we are talking about health, Josep Borrell’s pharmacy was at number 5, Carrer Sant Miquel. On the 3^rd of February 1824, the apothecary published in El Diari de Barcelona that he had good quality leeches, and if Borrell the pharmacist prescribed them, there was no reason to object to it. 

We not only find advertisements for the sale of products, but also institutional notices such as the one published in El Diario de Barcelona on the 25^th of July 1827, announcing the auction of the lease of the service to bring and sell snow in the neighbourhood for 5 years. 

Girl to serve or breastfeed.

It is worth mentioning a type of advertisement offering the services of women and girls, even of a young age, for different tasks. Mainly for what was popularly known as serving or attending to the housework of a family, normally of better

position. Even in El Diario de Barcelona of the 8^th of April 1796, a young woman offered herself as a wet nurse to breastfeed a newborn baby “with her two-month-old milk”. 

In all these cases, it was the men who gave references about them, acting as tutors. 

One bath 6 reales, 10 baths 50 reales.

On the 2^nd of June 1824, an advertisement for the Can Soler baths was published. A very complete service with a multitude of options: sea water or ordinary water, cold or lukewarm… but always with clothes. Although Mr. Soler’s astute man was already promoting the subscription of 10 baths