Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-10-22
Origin of Advertising.

More than $500. 600. 900 is probably
not an extreme total for the aggre-
gate advertising expenditure in the
United States in 1905. OF this it is
estimated that S145.OO0.O00 went to
newspapers and magazines alone. Pos
tiers. handbillS. street car signs. illus
trared booklets. electric signs and kin
dred methods consumed the difference
in these amounts. The importance of
advertising is too well demonstrated
in these figures TO need any elabOra-
ton in words But few facts in re-
gard TO the origin of this litera-
ture of commerce. which we find in
the Wall Street Journal, may be of in
terest TO readers. The Wall Street
Journal says:
Under the Caesars the walls of the
Coliseum were placardcd with notices
from business men OF Rome; and in
ancient Greece it was customary TO
hang in the temples parchment scrolls
CT complaints and personal Affections
Of the people. which in turn led to in
geniOus interpretations on the state of
trade and business. thus calling attan-
ton to the wares of the cOmplainants.
The obelisks of the RameseS served a
turn for the Egyptians. and St. Paurs
cathedral in London was so covered
with trade notices at one time that the
constabulary was invoked to tear them
down,
The first regular newspaper 10 pub
lish advertisements was the London
Weekly News in 1922. The word ed
vertiser first appeared in Z headline
in the London Gazette in 1906. IN 1880
appeared the first personal in Lon
don periodical. and from its wording il
might have been clipped from the col
umnS of our esteemed contemporary
the New York Herald. The first reg
ularly printed newspaper in America
was the Boston Newsletter which
made its first appearance in 1894. and
enjoyed a circulation of only 500 after
40 years. The New York Gazette first
published advertisements in 1926, and
in one year its total was only four.
Not until 1880 did it contain one full
column, although the first American
daily. the Independent Gazette. con
tanned in 1897 as many as 81 adver-
tisements,"
Advertising is also noted in the
scriptures of the Old Testament The
curious will find in Numbers 24:14.
and in Ruth A, mention of the art,
the latter in connection with the mar
Rage of Boaz to Ruth in which Boaz
said to her kinsman, And ] thought to
advertise them, saying. buy it before
the inhabitants and before the elders
of my people,
All this demonstrates the antiquity
of advertising and gives one an idea of
its progress. But it is only in recent |
years that its magnificent proportions
have been attained. Fifty years ago
merchant who purchased more than
four inches of newspaper space was
deemed guilty of extravaganza Today
a whole page is frequently occupied by |
the advertisement of a single firm. and
sometimes two pages are covered by |
such advertisement The earliest
American advertisements dealt with
real estate and runaway slaves. Hotel |
and patent medicines fol-
lowed, and then theatrical managers
and book publishers. Except slave
owners, we have these advertisers still |
with us. daily purchasing more and |
more space.
An advertisement first whets ones |
curiosity; his needs later recall its i'm |
preston; and finally, necessity or de- |
sire to possess moves TO purchase
This is the philosophy of advertising |
the handmaiden of modern commerce.
The moral of all this is that adver-
Using is not only of ancient origin, but
a good thing. !