In 1903 Ad-Art was a weekly magazine out of Columbus, Ohio (a little-known advertising capital), that was printed on newsprint and provided the merchant class and advertising agents with ideas for selling their wares. The ideas were not as witty as “Think Small” or as taboo-busting as “You Don’t Have to Be Jewish to Love Levy’s” or as elegant as Braniff Airways’ “When You Got It, Flaunt It” ads—nor as memorable. But in a modest way, they did their job in promoting the burgeoning American consumer culture. Quaint and insignificant by the standards set by the Creative Revolution and Big Idea, but functional and practical by turn-of-the-century verities.
The only question I have: Who are Blank & Blank? They certainly got around.
A page from Ad-Art, an early advertising-design magazine
