Title: Does American History End in 1900?
Review: Advertising has become ubiquitous, on television, in the subway, on web pages, even on clothing. Even our ideas and opinions, religions and romances, have become commodified, slanted, and marketed. And most of the flood of commodification is the product of the postwar communications boom. Before 1950, one had newspapers, magazines, radio, and the occasional newsreel. Before 1900, one had placards and fliers.So why is this book exclusively about the 19th century? The 19th century deserves 1 chapter, not all 400 pages. I am only vaguely interested in P.T. Barnum, but fascinated by how Tony the Tiger recreated American breakfasts during the Baby Boom. Or if Lear wanted to aim his book at historians, why the audacity to title it "a cultural history of American advertising"? It omits the most interesting eras of American advertising.
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