At the forefront of America's economic growth was an evangelistic message being spread to what seemed like everyone. It was of a message unlike any culture had ever really experienced mostly because no other culture had so much of it. The message was simple: believe that what you don't have is only because you have not actually bought it. In other words, don't be satisfied with nothing, be satisfied with everything, and don't stop until you have everything you could ever want. This consumerism spread like a plague and, as Alan Brinkley so astutely says in his book The Unfinished Nation, "No group was more aware of the emergence of consumerism (or more responsible for creating it) than the advertising industry."

Little did this early consumer culture know what was about to hit them. Like a child who doesn't understand why a candy bar before dinner is unwise, America would be immersing itself in the pleasures of fulfilling their fancies and only wanting more.

Before America Was
According to an article in the Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, advertising pre-dates the modern era by many centuries. Yes, outdoor display advertising was happening before New York ever existed, not to mention Times Square. Some early known artifacts uncovered by archaeologists include signs painted on the sides of buildings, sometimes promoting property that was for rent or even alerting travelers to a tavern in the next town.

In medieval times, merchants hired town criers who would literally shout the praises of their products to all who would listen. Not unlike modern day radio announcers, these town criers would read notices to the public that would nudge people toward a purchase.

While advertising is certainly not an American concept or creation, it most certainly took on a unique form in America as communication delivery systems were about to change the playing field forever.

Mediums for the Message
Advertising would never have been able to propagate without the inventions (and related production and duplication) of mass communication systems. In addition, America became smaller and smaller as transportation became more realistic and affordable, thus allowing these mass communication systems to connect so many areas of life.

After years of trying, on March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant, Thomas Watson, would hear each other's voice over a wire for the first time. Just three years later the Bell Company had connected 133,000 telephones. Long distance communication would arrive in 1915 when Harold Arnold invented the first practical electrical amplifiers, allowing phone calls to reach everywhere that wires did. Telephones would allow communication to travel instantly. Advertising was starting to make friends.

Although newspapers and magazines had been around for a while, they really gained momentum in the early twentieth century, especially as sensationalism played well to American emotion through wars, government, and other related national issues. William Randolph Hearst and Henry Luce were just two examples of publishing moguls whose empires are still around to this day. Magazines and newspapers continue to be a mainstay medium for advertisers.

Wireless technology, specifically as it paved the way for radio was another key component to carrying the message of advertising. Through a variety of different inventors and innovators, both in the U.S. and around the world, radio would be central to the idea of broadcasting news and entertainment. Christmas Eve, 1906, would mark the first radio transmission. It would only be a matter of time before broadcast companies would leverage this technology and incorporate advertising.

Like radio, the invention of television (and its proliferation as the second world war ended) would put pictures to those sounds and bring America in direct contact with cultures and lifestyles from across towns and eventually around the world. Although credit for the invention of the television goes to Philo T. Farnsworth, he would be denied much of the recognition. Regardless, his invention (from an idea when he was just 14 years old) would eventually allow advertising to come alive.

Last but not least, the Internet (world wide web) would be a multi-media medium for communications. In 1957, the Advance Research Projects Agency, a Department of Defense office, led the way for what we now know the Internet to be. America's expansion on the military front in terms of advanced communication methods would be a primary driver of technology and spill over into every area of life, including business and personal productivity. As a result, perhaps more than anywhere else, advertising is everywhere online as a result of this world-changing invention.

Advertising Takes Root
Some of the earliest print advertising in America dates back to the 1870s. Medicine companies purchased ads in magazines and newspapers because doctors and reliable pharmacists were limited in supply outside of the more populated urban areas. In addition, because farmers and pioneers did much of their own doctoring, medicine companies considered them a great market. According to some historical accounts, these patent-medicine bottlers made a gross profit of 80 to 90 percent, so they could well afford to spend money publicizing their remedies.

Because transportation was growing in popularity, convenience, and affordability, it was natural that railroads and steamships were also early and frequent users of advertising in the U.S. Advertising was a way to promote the romance of the journey, as well as the schedule and rates.

Another phenomenon that began late in the nineteenth century and continues even today is the idea of branding and brand names. Prior to brand names, common household products like sugar, soap, rice, butter, milk, beans, candy, candles, and pickles had been sold in neighborhood stores from bulk containers. These containers were generic and did not indicate who was supplying or producing the "product" inside. In turn, consumers were not aware of or influenced by brand names. Some of the earliest known companies to start "branding" themselves include Ivory, Colgate, Royal Baking Powder, Quaker Oats, Baker's Chocolate, Hire's Root Beer, Wrigley, and Coca-Cola.

Conclusion
"After World War I, advertising developed into a business so big that it became almost a trademark of America itself in the eyes of the world," says Eugene A. DeWitt, in an encyclopedia article of the same subject. During World War II, the American advertising industry founded the War Advertising Council. This nonprofit public-service organization networked and utilized the collective creativity of the ad industry to strengthen the American war effort. After the war, this organization continued as the Advertising Council (and continues even today). They have helped to promote U.S. savings bonds, prevent forest fires, encourage aid to higher education, and promote public health issues and crime prevention.

Today, more than $400 billion a year is spent on advertising worldwide, much of this protruding from America. Advertising is seen everywhere it seems. From illuminated outdoor billboards (thank you Thomas Edison) to bus stops to bathroom urinals, it's a mainstay in American culture (and even in the world culture).