Ad Land

My first blog....how....exciting!!! When Monica invited me to be a blogger for "The Boarder", my first thought was, yikes! What do I blog about? Her advice: "Share relevant information, ask for ideas and make it fun!"

OK....I can do that!

I'm a big history lover....World history, European history, American history...maybe because of my family. My great, great grand father (so the story goes) was a preacher that traveled throughout the mid-west on horseback spreading the Methodist doctrine. One of my distant relatives was said to have signed the Declaration of Independence. My father was good friends with one of the Marines who during World War II raised the American flag on Iwo Jima.

Those stories made an impression and I've always found myself interested in the events that shaped our past...and what role those events play in the current day. Do we learn from the past? Are we destined to repeat it? Questions I certainly cannot answer and won't pretend to, but they always provoke good conversation.

I've also been fortunate to work in the advertising industry for more than 25 years. My father was in the industry (on the sales side) and my brother is also a Media Director. The history of advertising is riddled with fasinating characters and themes.

My curiousity about the history of the ad biz lead me to a great read. "Adland" by Mark Tungate gives a complete chonological rendering of how it all started, who the key players were and how advertising has contributed to the popular culture.

It's safe to say that advertising has been around as long as there have been products to sell and a medium to promote them....from the crier in the street to the handbill tacked to a tree. The invention of the printing press (generally credited to Johannes Gutenberg) in 1447 substancially moved advertising foward.

In 1631 , the first French newspaper was created. "La Gazette" disseminated information for those seeking and offering work, buying and selling goods and making public announcements of all kinds. The journalist who created La Gazette in effect became the inventor of the personal ad.

Most everyone agrees that advertising really found it's stride during the Industrial Revolution....at that time, newspapers were considered the mass medium. Products were produced and packaged on a scale never before dreamed of. Manufacturers needed consumers to remember their products, so they branded their goods...and began to advertise them.

Much has changed in the advertising world since the mid-19th century.....more to come next week.

I welcome your comments and stories.