This paper explains the growth of the U.S. advertising industry around 1900 by showing how advertisers and advertising professionals established institutions and practices that converted audience attention into a form of tradable property. My empirical work on billposting illuminates the central role that the pursuit of monopoly played in constructing a commodity form of access to pedestrians’ gazes.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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Poster Advertising Association. 1909-1920 monthly. The poster.
10.
Poster Advertising Association. A chat with the billposter. 1909-1911 monthly. OAAA collection box HI1, Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History.
11.
Poster Advertising Association. 1919. Why the association. OAAA collection box HI2, Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History.
