Marketing and Advertising (1880s-1920s)

            The topic I focused on was marketing and advertising in the late 19^th to the early 20^th century. Marketing and advertising was connected to industrialization because of the rise of the mass production of goods. Since so many goods were in demand companies needed to show why their goods were better than another company’s goods. During this time period, advertisements went from being on handbills to being in newspapers and magazines.

This is a black and white Baking 
Powder ad from the 1880s.

            In the 1880s, advertising was just starting to develop. People were interested in how to market to specific groups of people and how to do their advertisements. Should they use business cards, handbills, or posters? In an article on the Harvard Business School website, a man named Nathaniel C. Fowler said, “advertising is a distinct art, as much so as the art of coal mining or of engine building.” In other words, he is arguing that advertising is just as important as any other job. The main point of advertising is to persuade people to buy a product they don’t need. In this article, another man states, “Within this emerging national market, it fell to the advertiser to encourage consumers to buy goods not necessarily produced locally and to convince them of the superiority of one product over another.” This statement means that another goal of advertisements in this time period was to show how one brand is better than another even though it is the same product. Once people started to figure out what marketing really was, they could develop advertisements based on what they thought would sell more of their product.

            With the rise of the industry of marketing there came many jobs to go along with it. In the late 19^th century advertising became a true profession. Volney B. Palmer was one of the earliest advertising agent. He set up a shop in Philadelphia for salesman to come to. He would do everything to market a product from a-z. He would find the “crowd” that the product was advertised to, he would find the best medium for the product, and then he would come up with a creative design/slogan for the product. This helped businesses become slightly less stressed because they did not have to worry about advertising and selling the product. They placed that responsibility in the agents hands.

This is a Gold Medal Flour Advertisement with 
some color on it from the 1900s.

            The “modern ad industry” started in the early 20^th century. Businesses were starting to advertise cars, cigarettes, and other products directed to “homemakers.” These businesses published their ads in sections of the local newspapers, on flyers, and in various local magazines. Paul Nathan in 1900 wrote a book called “How to Make Money in the Printing Business.” In this book he said, “the intelligent job printer will never permit himself to forget that printing is allied to advertising, and that almost all of the printing he does depends in some way upon its success as an advertisement or as an advertising medium.” In other words, Paul is saying that in this time period whatever a printer was printing was for advertisement purposes. Advertising promoted the production of mass-produced goods and the only way to advertise was through the printer.

            Towards the end of the early 20^th century, radio and television ads became more popular. All the other “printed” ads had less words and more pictures to appeal to a larger group of people. Advertisements also used more color and less black and white. Food advertisements especially used color as the main focus of an ad. For example, a company out of California that sold oranges used a hand tinted orange to persuade people about how juicy and ripe the fruit looked. This specific ad was published in 1908 as a section in a newspaper.

            Many ads during the late 19^th century to the early 20^th century have made history. A Rolls-Royce ad said “To a man who is afraid to let his dream come true.” This specific advertisement had many paragraphs describing the car and all of its features. Whereas, in 1910 an ad for the new Cadillac came out with the slogan, “A car literally without competition.” This ad had one picture and this slogan across the top of it. Listerine came out with a spectacular ad in 1913. Their catch phrase was, “Often a Bridesmaid, but never a Bride.” In 1915, Tiffany finally put their name on their building. For the longest time, they had gone without the name on their building. They were relying on the local customers for all of their revenue. Now, people who hear the name will want to go to the store and see what they have. Therefore, their company’s profit raises. (other various ads that were considered "the best" of this time period are pictured at the end)

             In conclusion, if the world in the late 19^th century to the early 20^th century was not mass producing goods, there would not have been a need for marketing and advertising. 

This is a food chopper ad from the 1890s.

This is a Cream O' Wheat ad from the 1910s.

This is a Campbell's Soup ad from the 1920s.

This is a Whitman's Chocolate Sampler ad from the 1930s.

Hyperlinked Sources:

Britannica High School
I used this source to find out general information about the advertisements during this time period.

Ad Age
I used this source to find out that advertising was considered a profession. 

Gale Power Search
I used this source to find out the biggest car ad in the 1900s which was a Cadillac advertisement.

Calisphere (University of California)
I used this source to find out that color was important in early 20th century advertisements.

Duke University Libraries
I used this source to find out that people wrote books about the various techniques of marketing and how to advertise effectively.

Boundless
I used this source to find out that people "rented" spaces in newspapers. 

Vintage Ad Browser
I used this source to find all of my pictures. All of the picture I used were primary sources from this website. 

Business Insider
I used this source to find out information about advertising in the late 20th century, just to see how it changed.

Harvard Business School
I used this source to find quotes from books that people wrote in this time period to use as primary sources. 

The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958
I used this book to find lots of advertisements during this time period that I used as primary sources. I found ads from Coca-Cola, Tiffany, Pillsbury, etc.

People on the Planet

I learned today that so many people have migrated to and from countries. I liked looking at the circle map that showed how many people how come and left the country and where they went to or came from. I also learned that it is hard to tell a person's race by how they look. I took the race quiz and I only got a few right. I was assuming that people were a certain race based on the "stereotypes" we have put on them. Overall, I think the most interesting thing that I realized today was that people can be a certain race even if they don't look like it. I think the matching race quiz was a great activity to make me realize and understand this concept.

This was the circle map that showed where people were migrating to

Philanthropy

I learned today that charities provide the basic needs for a society and philanthropy is used to enhance the society. Philanthropy is used to help people become more educated. If I was a philanthropist I would donate money to curing diseases and to the development of many countries. I think that curing diseases would help the local economy and help people with the diseases get better. Overall, I learned that for a society to become better we need philanthropists all around the world.

Thinking About Success

1. Luck
2. Hard Work
3. Skill
4. Opportunity

I think luck is the number one factor because even if you have a high skill set you still have to have luck to get somewhere in life. Hard work is number two because in order to have a good skill set you have to work hard. Number three is skill because if you do not have any skills then you are not going to get anywhere in life. Opportunity is number four because I think that without luck, hard work, and skill there will be no opportunity.

Above is a picture of a four leaf clover because it represents what I think is most important, luck.

Clothing Industry (Zara and H&M)

The biggest thing I learned today was that Zara and H&M "change" their inventory out every week. Other stores including Target, Forever 21, and Topshop participate in this "fast fashion" technique too. The fast fashion industry is really nice because it allows for not everyone to have the same kinds of clothing in an specific area. But it is controversial because usually the clothing is not quality material. Therefore it is cheaper and will be easier to "ruin." This causes the buyer to only be able to wear the shirt a couple of times before having to throw it away. I also learned that there are people who predict fashion trends. One girl in particular is named, Nina Stotler, she travels the world hunting for the next big fashion trend. She goes to different fashion shows, retail stores, and conventions in hope of finding a new trend. I think this job would be difficult because there is always uncertainty about knowing whether or not the trend will actually become popular. In an article I read, she said that the hardest part of her job was traveling. I thought this would be the best part being able to go to different parts of the world and meet different types of people. But, she claims that all the traveling becomes time consuming and difficult after a while. In conclusion, I learned about trend forecasting and about a variety of stores fast fashion approach to business.

This is a picture of some companies who participate in "fast fashion." 

Indians in a School Textbook Research

Textbook Archive

In this activity, we looked up the definitions of savage and savagery and we looked at a textbook archive. In this archive we read pages 18-19 about Indians and then we searched "savages" in the whole textbook. After those results came up we read the excerpts from which they were from. The definitions I found according to google for savagery is, "the quality of being fierce or cruel" and "the condition of being primitive or uncivilized." Savage is defined as, "fierce, violent, and uncontrolled" and "a member of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized."

"If you were an American student reading this text as part of your schoolwork, how would that shape the way you viewed Native Americans?"

If I was an American student reading this I would think that Indians basically lived in the wilderness and that they could hold themselves up. The author in the textbook says, "For their food they depended, for the most part, upon the wild beasts they killed and the fish they caught." In other words Indians were good at finding resources for themselves and sharing them with their tribe members. I would also think that Indians, according to this, are not necessarily "bad," they are just not up to date with the white civilization. Indians are also defined as looking a specific way. The author says, "They had long, black, coarse hair, a scant beard, and high cheek-bones." This shows how white people saw Indians only in one way and how it was difficult to tell the difference between them. Overall, I would think that Indians are basically described as savages.

News about Indians

I found a newspaper in California that was written on September 14, 1887. It was called the Los Angeles Herald. There was a section about Indians written by John Ward, a United States Indian Agent. In this section John said, "Clothe the Indian with the insignia of citizenship, and invest him with title to land, in fee simple, and still it does not make him a man, without he has been taught the arts of industry and has solved the problems of self-support." In other words, he is fighting for Indians to become citizens and for them to farm to have more money. He also paraphrased that in the past year Indians farms have failed because of the dryness from the winter and because there is no irrigation system. Therefore it was hard for the plants to stay alive. On the other hand, he believes that the government has helped Indians become more educated with the building of some schools throughout reservations. But the problem with these schools is that the teachers are not professionally trained and disease spreads easily throughout the schools. Sanitation was a big problem for Indians during this time period (1887). Whooping cough and measles was spreading in the reservation and there was no way to stop it because of the lack of hospitals. Many indians died because there was no where for them to go to receive treatment. So John Ward is urging for the government to build hospitals on the reservations for them now. In conclusion, John Ward is trying to raise awareness about all of the problems that Indians are suffering through.

I am a white man living in Los Angeles and it is September 14, 1887. I have just finished reading the Los Angeles Herald that was published for today.  Todays newspaper was very interesting, lots of things were brought to my attention. In particular, 7 seven things caught my eye.

1. I did not know that Indians did not have hospitals on the reservations. This is horrible! How do they receive treatment when they are sick? How do they have surgeries if they need them?

2. Disease is spreading through the reservation schools so the school population is dropping. This means less Indians are getting educated.

3. There is no irrigation systems on the Indian farms. How can they grow food if there is not enough water for the plants? It is crazy because sometimes the us white people buy their products. But, if there is no water, how do we purchase the products?

4. There is a new medicine out called Hamburg Tea. This medicine apparently prevents and cures lots of sicknesses including, kidney disease, headaches, skin disease, nausea, and constipation. It also cleans the blood and purifies the whole body.

5. Recently, a lot of land has been put on the market. One ad in particular caught my eye. It said, "A Beautiful $10,000 Home Free!" This is interesting because who is selling their home for free. But then I read at the bottom and it said that you pay a lot less than 10,000 so it is considered free but it's really not.

6. There is going to be an auction sale on Friday! This is the first auction sale of the fall season! I will take my family there if I can remember.

7. Lastly, I found that a new railroad will be working for just a few days this week. It is called "The Electric Railroad." Sometime this week I will go look at the railroad to see how technology has advanced.

Overall, this newspaper taught me more than any other newspaper has before. I am looking forward to all the events coming up! And I am going to try to help out the Indians so that they can receive, somewhat, the kind of resources that we receive.

Below is a picture of Hamburg Tea, a cure for many diseases:

Deep Thinking

"Our use of social media for news is selective and intentional so that we may tend to remain interested only in things we are already interested in. On the other hand professional news outlets, like newspapers, expose readers to information on a broad range of topics. This helps me to see what other people are interested in."

Newspaper Homework

3. A newspaper, according to Merriam-Webster, is "a set of large sheets of paper that have news stories, information about local events, advertisements, etc."

4. The first newspaper to come into existence, according to Historic Pages, was found in Boston in 1690. It was called Publick Occurrences.

5. The Hartford Courant was one of the oldest newspaper in the United States. This newspaper was older than the nation. It was published semi-weekly starting in 1764. The New York Post was also considered one of the oldest newspapers in the United States. This newspaper was published daily starting in 1801.

6. I looked at the online version of the New York Times newspaper. In this newspaper there were a lot of leading stories including "Hillary Clinton Turns Up Heat on Bernie Sanders in a Sharp Debate" and "Putin says U.S. Fails to Cooperate in Syria." Other major headlines include, "In Courts, Running Out the Clock on Obama Immigration Plan" and "Afghan ISIS Branch Makes Inroads in Battle Against Taliban."

7. To be a "newspaper of record" the newspaper must be major throughout a society and be professional looking. The first designated newspaper of record was The New York Times in 1913. Other newspapers that can be considered "newspapers of record" are The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

8. When I look at a newspaper I immediately look at the big font. The big font correlates with the most important stuff in the whole newspaper. I also like to look at the various pictures throughout the newspaper. This is different from social media because on social media most everything is one font. It is hard to tell what is important on social media. Also, newspapers provide a lot more information about world-wide events than social media does. I think social media is better for communicating with friends. For me, it is hard to get "news" from social media sources. However, it is interesting to look at how news travels faster through social media than through newspapers. I think the problem with newspapers is no one has a lot of time to sit and read the newspaper whereas with social media it is easier to pull out your phone anywhere and look at it. Overall, I think social media is easier to access but newspapers convey more news.

9. I think this picture shows the correlation between big font and being important. This is from the San Francisco Newspaper.

Quarter 1 Reflections

Fast Facts Inquiry Research over Native American Fashion Controversies

Native American's have always been known for their intricate beading and weaving. They use many different types of colors and fabrics to make their work look as detailed as possible. Recently, there have been many controversies over designers "using and making fun" of the Native American style of clothing. For example, a designer named Bethany Yellowtail recently created a tribal printed dress and another designer copied her. Bethany states “The dress as stated on my website embodies a Crow design from my great great grandmother.” Bethany's grandmother was a part of a Native American tribe so she feels as if she has a connection to Native American tribes. Therefore, she likes to use their "style" into her work. She claims that she is honoring and preserving the work of Native Americans by using it in her work. The other designer who made a similar dress to Bethany's claims that she has always used Native American designs in her work. Bethany claims this statement to be false. Below are pictures from a BBC News Article:

On the left is Bethany Yellowtail's Dress and on the right is KTZ's "copied" dress

This is a beaded bag from Bethany's Grandmother. This is what the tribal printed dress was based off of.

Another example of a recent fashion controversy dealing with Native Americans is with the designer, Ralph Lauren. He recently created an ad which was of a darker skinned man with braids in his hair. The man in the ad was wearing a "western shirt" and a bandana. Ralph Lauren posted this ad to his website and was using it in magazines. This ad caused a lot of commotion amongst Native American tribe members. Ruth Hopkins, a member of the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota states, “Ralph Lauren has been doing this my whole life. He is a repeat offender. Cultural appropriation is apparently his thing.” Ralph Lauren was embarrassed because so many Native Americans had complained about the offensiveness of this ad. He was so embarrassed that he removed the ad off of the website. Below is a picture of the ad from a Huffington Post News Article:

This is a picture of the Ralph Lauren ad. In it you can see the "stereotypical portrayal" of a Native American Indian. 

Today, I learned so many new things about the different types of fashion from Native Americans. It was really interesting to see how many people really care about their culture and want to preserve it. I think that the many fashion controversies that are happening today are a result of Native Americans wanting to preserve their culture. 

Film Essay

In United States history class, I believe it is absolutely essential to watch movies in order to gain a different perspective on each topic. When watching a movie you have to be looking for the different types of attitudes, critical details, and of course the historical accuracy that is displayed in the film. After watching Glory and Twelve Years a Slave I have acquired the necessary skills to really gain something from watching a movie. Since watching these movies, I now really understand the harshness of slavery.

In the film, Glory, the main character, Robert Shaw, is an abolitionist from Boston. He leads a group of African Americans into battle otherwise known as the 54^th Regiment. A film critic describes it as, “glory, the new, beautifully acted, pageant like movie that tells the story of the Massachusetts 54^th.” The most important thing about this movie is that it shows a different kind of slavery to me. Slavery has always been that a slave owner owns slaves and orders them around. But, in this case, slavery is the cruelty of not being able to be held to the same standard as the white soldiers. This movie has given me a new sense of the different types of slavery. Most parts in Glory are historically accurate. For example, the attack of Fort Wagner, according to a film critic, “comes as close to anything [he has] ever seen on screen to capturing the chaos and brutality that were particular to the Civil War battles.” In other words, the director does such a good job of showing how harsh the siege of Fort Wagner was that it makes the viewer feel like they are actually in the movie. Now, I know it is difficult for a director to put many years of events into less than two hours but this director has done a great job depicting the truth of the Massachusetts 54^th in that small amount of time. Edward Zwick, the director, did such a good job with this movie that it made $63,661 in only the first weekend in just three locations. The movie's total gross was $26,828,365, which is great considering the movie's budget was only $18 million. This movie was nominated for an Oscar four times but won many other awards including, best cinematography, best sounds, and best supporting role actor. Overall, this movie has provided me with a new attitude towards slavery and a different perspective on the many types of slavery.

 Twelve Years a Slave is an “old-fashioned, Hollywood-style engagement” that has shown me a different perspective on slavery. In full honesty, I did not think slavery was as bad as it was displayed in this movie. This movie showed me that slavery was harsh, brutal, and rude. But, slavery was only bad for African Americans therefore the “owners” were living a great life ordering these people around. And, as bad as this sounds this is the image that Twelve Years a Slave has given me. It really has shown me the true colors of slavery. This movie is rated R but if you do not focus on the “bad” parts of slavery then you do not really understand the true concept of slavery. And, I will admit at times it was hard to watch this movie, it was hard to know that people have been torturing others like this, but it was the truth. The truth is why movies are so important. In a textbook, it is all facts, but in a movie it is facts mixed with the truth of how something really was. This movie, according to a New York Times critic is, “a desperate path and a story that seizes you almost immediately with a visceral force.” In other words, this movie shows how brutal slavery was to the point where you do not want to stop watching. Another film critic describes this movie as, “a harrowing, unforgettable drama.” This film has received so many awards you could not count them on one hand. Awards such as, best motion picture of the year, best writing, best leading actor, best performance by an actress in a supporting role, etc. The point of showing you the different types of awards is so that you realize how well crafted the movie is as a whole. It is not just the script that is well written, it is the actors who play the parts, it is the cameramen who capture the beautiful shots, and it is the director who plans each scene out to each and every last minuscule detail. This movie has done so well it made $187,733,702 in showings worldwide. This movie is also historically accurate. For example, when a slave is leaving the plantation they need a note to leave. So in the movie when Solomon is running an errand for the slave owner, he is wearing a “necklace” with a “pass” on it. It also shows how when slave owners needed money they would “rent” out their slaves to other plantation owners for a fee. The last thing the movie shows extremely well is when buying a slave, the owners would have to feel them and test their physical abilities. Overall, this movie is so sad and devastating that is has given me a new perspective on slavery.

 By watching Glory and Twelve Years a Slave I have understood honestly and truthfully how harsh slavery was for African Americans.  I think that by watching movies in history class you can gain more knowledge and become more aware of the topics you are learning about. In conclusion, I think that if you can watch a movie critically and be able to break it down piece-by-piece you will get something out of watching it.

This is a picture of one of the main characters in the movie, Glory.

Website Title: New York Times

Article Title: Glory (1989) Review/Film; Black Combat Bravery in the Civil War

Website Title: New York Times

Article Title: Glory (1989) Cast, Credits, and Awards

Website Title: Box Office Mojo

Article Title: Glory

Website Title: Wikipedia

Article Title: Glory (1989 Film)

Website Title: Rolling Stones

Article Title: Glory

Website Title: IMDb

Article Title: Glory (1989) Goofs

Website Title: New York Times

Article Title: The Blood and Tears, Not the Magnolias

Website Title: New York Daily News

Article Title: ‘12 Years a Slave’ Movie Review

Website Title: Box Office Mojo

Article Title: 12 Years a Slave

Website Title: Huffington Post

Article Title: Historical Accuracy of ‘12 Years a Slave’ Already Being Discussed

Website Title: History Extra

Article Title: Historian at the Movies: 12 Years a Slave Reviewed

Picture Source

Practicing Incorporating a Quotation

The following quote is from a Glory movie review found on the New York Times.

"The attack on Fort Wagner, which is the climax of the movie, comes as close to anything I've ever seen on screen to capturing the chaos and brutality that were particular to the Civil War battles."

In the movie review the author, Vincent Canby says that the strike of Fort Wagner "comes as close to anything I've ever seen on screen to capturing the chaos and brutality that were particular to the Civil War battles."

Today, I learned how difficult it is to paraphrase a select quotation from someone else. It's hard because I am so tempted to include my own ideas in the paraphrase. I also learned how to use a "pithy" quote in my writing. I think I would be more likely to use a "pithy" quote in my writing rather than a paraphrase because I would need to be able to incorporate my own ideas while using some of the author's main thoughts. Lastly, I learned how to hyperlink to different sources in my writing. Overall, it was nice to see how different and unique a paraphrase is from a direct quotation. 

This is what Mrs. Lawson wanted me to learn,

• Only use a quote when it adds power and style to my writing.
• Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote.
• Whether I quote or paraphrase, always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it.
• If I use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and give credit.
• If I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put their ideas in my own words, I better have a good reason for doing that, and I MUST give credit.
• Hyperlinking is so easy, there is no excuse for not being transparent about my sources.

I really understand all of these things. 

Paraphrase Practice

The following passage is a Glory movie review that was published on the New York Times.

"The attack on Fort Wagner, which is the climax of the movie, comes as close to anything I've ever seen on screen to capturing the chaos and brutality that were particular to the Civil War battles. Weapons maimed as often as they killed. Soldiers were so disciplined that they marched in firm lines into the sights of guns fired at point-blank range." 

In other words, the strike of Fort Wagner (the peak of the movie) is one of the best film representations of a battle during the Civil War. It shows how fatal and crazy the event, as a whole was. The weapons that were used injured as many people as they killed. The soldiers were well mannered and had excellent battle form. They marched in straight lines towards the other side, who were already firing into a plain field at them. 

Sympathy and Empathy

There is a key difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy is an intellectual concept whereas sympathy is more of a feeling concept. Empathy is defined as the intellectual identification or vicarious experience of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. It can also be defined as the experience of understanding another person's condition from their perspective. On the other hand, sympathy is the feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. For example, if my friend's mother has just been diagnosed with cancer I can feel empathetic and sympathetic towards her. I can feel empathetic for her even if I have never been in that position. Therefore, I can say "I'm sorry" and "If you need anything I'm here for you." Feeling empathetic can make me expand my knowledge because it causes you to think about if you were in that person's shoes. So, I my mom was diagnosed with cancer I would be cranky and mad. So if the next time I see her and she is rude I can understand that she is going through a lot and she is not being "rude" to me. Along with feeling empathetic, I can also feel sympathetic towards her because I am feeling sorry for her misfortune.

In history, you have to be able to empathize with the people from the past to help better understand the concepts. If you can mentally put yourself into another person's shoes than you can really think through and understand what their problems are. Therefore, I think it is very important to be able to empathize in history just to help yourself get a better understanding of the past.

Empathy and Sympathy