The History & Background of Advertising
The History & Background of Advertising
02/16/2012
1700’s-1900 Advertising has gone through several periods to be developed to the extent that it is today. Beginning in the 1700’s, the concept of the newspaper began to take hold of the early American Colonies. It wasn’t until 1736 that the concept of advertising became an aspect of newspapers due to its popularization on the count of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin began to use advertisements to sell items such as wine and mathematical instruments, and he used his expertise to teach stores to advertise by utilizing illustrations. With the Stamp Act of 1765, advertising became more relevant than news as colonists responded to the act with several illustrative advertisements. With the growth of towns, lower distribution costs, and cheaper goods, advertising gained a foothold and began to expand rapidly. Advertising grew steadily until it saw a boom in the Wide-Awake Decade of the 1830’s. In 1837, Benjamin Day’s one cent newspaper reached circulation of 30,000 papers. He was able to circulate so many papers because of its low cost relative to other newspapers that sold for five or six cents. His production costs were cut due to his massive advertising revenue. Another product of the Wide-Awake Decade was Phineas Taylor Barnum, who was said to be an economic force himself and probably the biggest contributor to the popularization of advertising. He sold the idea of advertising and was credited with its boom in the second half of the 1800’s. Some other notable events in 19 th century advertising was Volney Palmer’s first advertising agency in Philadelphia in 1843, advertising becoming a profession in the mid-1800’s, the Civil War creating a need for more daily newspapers, economic and population growth, new inventions, the Packaging Revolution, and the creation of characters in advertising. 1900-1930’s Mass marketing to individuals with varied interests became possible with the launch of the Good Housekeeping magazine
02/16/2012
1700’s-1900 Advertising has gone through several periods to be developed to the extent that it is today. Beginning in the 1700’s, the concept of the newspaper began to take hold of the early American Colonies. It wasn’t until 1736 that the concept of advertising became an aspect of newspapers due to its popularization on the count of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin began to use advertisements to sell items such as wine and mathematical instruments, and he used his expertise to teach stores to advertise by utilizing illustrations. With the Stamp Act of 1765, advertising became more relevant than news as colonists responded to the act with several illustrative advertisements. With the growth of towns, lower distribution costs, and cheaper goods, advertising gained a foothold and began to expand rapidly. Advertising grew steadily until it saw a boom in the Wide-Awake Decade of the 1830’s. In 1837, Benjamin Day’s one cent newspaper reached circulation of 30,000 papers. He was able to circulate so many papers because of its low cost relative to other newspapers that sold for five or six cents. His production costs were cut due to his massive advertising revenue. Another product of the Wide-Awake Decade was Phineas Taylor Barnum, who was said to be an economic force himself and probably the biggest contributor to the popularization of advertising. He sold the idea of advertising and was credited with its boom in the second half of the 1800’s. Some other notable events in 19 th century advertising was Volney Palmer’s first advertising agency in Philadelphia in 1843, advertising becoming a profession in the mid-1800’s, the Civil War creating a need for more daily newspapers, economic and population growth, new inventions, the Packaging Revolution, and the creation of characters in advertising. 1900-1930’s Mass marketing to individuals with varied interests became possible with the launch of the Good Housekeeping magazine