ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes developing a specifically modern definition of the term ‘city’, using advertising as a key part of a visual urban discourse. It considers how advertising has developed, what interfaces existed between it and the city, what effects advertising had on city and the city on advertising, and how opening up a new communication space has affected modern life. Although professional advertising journals remain largely ignored as historical sources, they contain a vast quantity of material relevant to a number of subjects. In 1897, advertising expert William Roland compared the structure of an advertisement to that of a modern house. The city is not preferred topic of textual discourse in advertising, but it is theplace where modern advertising arose. The oversized metropolis made necessary changes in forms of communication, in order to bridge gaps created by the new anonymity in the exchange of goods. National Socialist propaganda was deluded in this way as well, but its resources were greater.
