The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company the then-new concept of prepackaged tea under the "Thea-Nector" name. The tea company continued to use the "Great American" name for mail-order purposes. In 1871, A&P introduced another concept when it offered premiums, such as lithographs, china, and glassware with the purchase of coffee and/or tea at its stores. These premiums are now collectibles. George Huntington Hartford joined Gilman & Company as a clerk perhaps in the late 1850s; Hartford later was promoted to bookkeeper, then cashier, in 1866. By 1871 Hartford was in a position of authority and was responsible for expanding A&P to Chicago after its great fire.
Great Revere train wreck of 1871 on using the old time-interval system and not using the telegraph. Several lawsuits were filed against the Eastern and the company almost went bankrupt. This eventually led to the Eastern being merged with its rival, the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1884. The accident remains the most deadly train wreck in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the second worst train accident in all of New England. Great Revere train wreck of 1871 The Great Revere train wreck of 1871 occurred on the evening of August 26, 1871, when the Eastern Railroad's "Portland Express" slammed into the rear