ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the importance of history to an understanding of advertising. The history of advertising is first and foremost about uncovering advertising as it occurred in the past. Advertisements from the past are often encountered as reproductions in history books and as objects of interest in local art galleries and museums. The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill, London is specifically dedicated to advertising and its history. Liz McFall in her book Advertising: A Cultural Economy explores the idea that as advertising developed its techniques and expanded into new promotional areas across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries it became more persuasive over time. Other museums, such as the Museum of Roman Civilization in the city of Rome, include examples of historical advertising among their many exhibits. The development of photography and later cinema and television created new forms of advertising and transported advertisements into new public and private spaces.
