ABSTRACT
Women’s Civil War activities represent a paradox regarding gender. Scholarship generally emphasizes the white middle class, but black women offered help as soon as “contrabands” appeared. Although a relatively small part of the gross national product as late as 1850, advertising grew phenomenally by 1900. Women’s Civil War activities represent a paradox regarding gender. Advertising agents first appeared in the 1840s and numbered approximately 20 in New York plus 20 more around the nation by the beginning of the Civil War. Two sets of images identified by scholars as typical of early and late nineteenth century guide the study of Civil War era media content. In general, at least traces of “gendering of commerce” appeared by the time of the Civil War. In conclusion, then, advertisements in the Civil War newspapers studied targeted women as consumers.
