the walls of the balboa were plastered with trivia for the edification of patrons-the entire series of mr. hogarth 's `` marriage a la mode '' etchings encircled the room , but were surrounded-and in some cases obscured-by thick flutterings of newspaper broadsheets , personal communiques , and wanted notices , these advertising a need for everything from six tonnes of pig lead or a shipload of negroes , to a company director of good name and solid finances who might assume the leadership of a fledgling firm engaging in the sale of gentlemen 's necessaries-whether these might include snuffboxes , stockings , or condoms was not made clear .