19th Century Advertising:
The Shift from Producing What was Needed to Creating a Need for What was Produced
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.award/ncdeaa.SB0014
Advertisements are a type of primary source that actively engage people of all ages in rich discussions that provide historical context as well as investigations into STEM and social justice content. Use the links below to investigate STEM skills used to create 19th century innovations, the societal value of these innovations, social biases of the time, and the general shift from farm to factory.
As more labor saving devises and novelty items became available, competition between companies for consumers also increased. “The trade catalog developed as a result of and along with the industrial revolution. ... [T]he growing factory system enabled workers to do twice to ten times the work of a single individual. Production rose, leading manufacturers to substantially increase their market territory to stimulate demand. The trade catalog became a critical means by which the resulting demand was met.” (Rhoda S. Ratner; Head; History, Technology, and Art Department, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, October 2000)
The first advertising agency opened in 1841 in Philadelphia. By 1861 there were twenty advertising agencies just in New York City. (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/timeline.html)
Most of the primary sources in this set are from the Library of Congress' webpage, "Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920," a project of the Special Collections Library at Duke University. Advertisements often started as text in newspapers and then became much more visual when they were printed as individual cards.
Use media literacy techniques like the ones created by the Media Literacy Project to analyze and compare the advertisements. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/.
As more labor saving devises and novelty items became available, competition between companies for consumers also increased. “The trade catalog developed as a result of and along with the industrial revolution. ... [T]he growing factory system enabled workers to do twice to ten times the work of a single individual. Production rose, leading manufacturers to substantially increase their market territory to stimulate demand. The trade catalog became a critical means by which the resulting demand was met.” (Rhoda S. Ratner; Head; History, Technology, and Art Department, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, October 2000)
The first advertising agency opened in 1841 in Philadelphia. By 1861 there were twenty advertising agencies just in New York City. (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/timeline.html)
Most of the primary sources in this set are from the Library of Congress' webpage, "Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920," a project of the Special Collections Library at Duke University. Advertisements often started as text in newspapers and then became much more visual when they were printed as individual cards.
Use media literacy techniques like the ones created by the Media Literacy Project to analyze and compare the advertisements. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/.
Timeline
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/eaa/timeline.html
Links to Individual Advertisements:
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/eaa/timeline.html
Links to Individual Advertisements:
- Up and Going, Excelsior Ginger Ale http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.02927/
- Blandy's Portable Steam Engine and Saw Mills http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/pga.01572/
- Aladdin Lamp http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/eaa/ephemera/A05/A0508/A0508-72dpi.html
- Nebraska, the Garden of the West http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/eaa/broadsides/B01/B0157/B0157-01-72dpi.html
- J. & P. Coats' Thread http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0616/
- Whitman's Fountain Pump
- Solar Tip Shoes http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0119/
- Wrigley’s Chewing Gum
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0306/
- Corona Candy
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0336/
- Brown's Iron Biters http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa_A0427
- The Automatic Toy Works http://lccn.loc.gov/1102264
