Newport Merchants Agree to Close at 6:30 — and Fine Themselves $50 If They Don’t
In 1908, local shopkeepers signed a pact to shorten business hours, hoping clerks and owners alike could finally take part in public life. Violators owed $50 to the Commercial Club.
The merchants of Newport, getting in line with other progressive cities of this section, have agreed to close their places of business earlier beginning next Monday. They are able to attend all the wants of the community during the hours they are open, and the new arrangement will give themselves and their clerks an opportunity to give some attention to matters of public interest and welfare. Under the old arrangement they were tied down in their places of business from early morning until late at night, and it was difficult to get out the business men to any public gathering. When the people become accustomed to the new idea, as they quickly will, all will appreciate the advantages gained. Following is the text of the closing agreement:
We, the undersigned, business men of the Town of Newport, Washington, do hereby agree, jointly and severally, to close our respective stores or places of business, hereafter, at 6:30 o'clock p.m. of each and every business day of the week, excepting Saturdays and the day or days immediately preceding legal holidays, on which said days the closing hour shall be 10 o'clock p.m.; and at which said hours the door or doors of our respective stores or places of business shall be closed and locked; customers or buyers who are in said store or stores shall be waited upon and allowed to depart, but the door or doors or openings of any kind must be closed.
We also hereby agree that should we or any of us keep open or open our said places of business contrary to the terms and conditions of this agreement, then the owner of such store or place of business so breaching the terms of this agreement, intentionally or negligently, whether it be an individual or a corporation, shall be fined and compelled to pay the sum of fifty (50) dollars as forfeit for breach of agreement as aforesaid. Said sum or sums of money so forfeited, should there be any, shall be paid or turned over to the Commercial Club of Newport, Washington, for the purpose of furthering the interests and advertising the advantages of said Town of Newport.
This agreement shall be in force and effect on and after Monday, the 3rd day of February, A.D. 1908, and shall so remain until rescinded, altered or amended by mutual agreement of all the parties hereto.
This agreement shall be binding upon the heirs, executors, administrators, successors or assigns of the parties whose signatures are hereto attached.
Signed and dated at Newport, Washington, this 24th day of January, A.D. 1908.
Noble Hurd, Northern Mercantile Co., D. Caldwell Co., Stadelman Bros., Farmers' Cooperative Trading Co., A. Ray Williams, Reid Hardware Co., Gilbert Mercantile Co., McDonald Mercantile Co., H. A. Miller, B. T. Foote, Ladies' Bazaar, C. Schneider, H. M. Lund, J. A. Warner, Edith Fee, Gust Anderson.
“Under the old arrangement they were tied down in their places of business from early morning until late at night, and it was difficult to get out the business men to any public gathering.”
A century before “work-life balance” entered the vocabulary, Newport shopkeepers tried to shorten the day by collective agreement rather than law. The $50 penalty—paid to the town’s booster club—shows how civic reform and commercial promotion could ride the same wagon. Modern debates over retail hours, overtime and who gets to participate in public life still echo the same questions.
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