A Brief History of Early American Advertising

A Brief History of Early American Advertising

Advertising has been around in one form or another since the dawn of civilization. Political advertising has been found in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Ancient Egyptians used papyrus for wall posters and sales messages. Fast forward to the early European settlements in North America and you can see the birth of the advertising industry in the U.S. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the most important moments in American advertising history. 1704 - An announcement was published in the Boston News-Letter looking for someone to buy an Oyster Bay, Long Island, estate. This was the first newspaper advertisement. 1742 - Ben Franklin was known for his inventive spirit. He also managed to become the first American magazine publisher to post print ads in his General Magazine. Franklin had printed ads in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette in Philadelphia, back in 1729. 1843 - The first advertising agency is opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Volney Palmer. In 1873, the first convention for advertising agents was held in New York. 1880 - A career is born when Department store founder John Wanamaker hires John E. Powers as the first full-time advertising copywriter. 1882 - Advertising budgets start to get serious when Procter & Gamble Co. has a budget of $11, 000 to advertise its Ivory soap. 1893 - A precedence is set when Frank Munsey takes drastic measure to save his Munsey's Magazine. To keep it afloat, he drops the price to 10 cents and the cost of subscriptions to a dollar, which is the first time a magazine is kept afloat by advertising revenue instead of newsstand sales. 1906 - Congress intervenes to pass a bill to force food products to list active ingredients. 1906 - The father of the modern cereal industry, W.K. Kellogg places the first ads for his Corn Flakes brand in six newspapers in the Midwest. Within a decade he will be spending $1 million on national advertising. 1911 - Proctor & Gamble marks a historical first when they hire an outside advertising agency (J. Walter Thompson Co.) to launch its new vegetable shortening, Crisco. 1911 - Sex appeal is first used in advertising by Woodbury Soap with the slogan "The skin you love to touch" in an ad in the Ladies' Home Journal. 1914 - Truth in advertising finally has meaning when The Federal Trademission Act is passed, where its Section 5 allows the act to issue cease-and-desist orders against dishonest advertising. 1916 - The National nwsignsolutions signs-vancouver-waOutdoor Advertising Bureau is founded by a group of advertising agencies. It eventually controls about 75 percent of all outdoor advertising in America. Jason Knapfel is Content Manager for Webfor, an webfor SEO firm based in the Portland, Oregon metro area. One of thepany's clients is nwsignsolutions Vancouver WA business signpany NW Sign Solutions.