Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940

by Roland Marchand

Book Overview

It has become impossible to imagine our culture without advertising. But how and why did advertising become a determiner of our self-image? Advertising the American Dream looks carefully at the two decades when advertising discovered striking new ways to play on our anxieties and to promise solace for the masses.

As American society became more urban, more complex, and more dominated by massive bureaucracies, the old American Dream...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520058852
• ISBN13: 9780520058859
• Release Date: September 1985
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 2.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.9" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

unnessesary

chillin on my floor cuz i had to drop the class because it was 40 min away and i was unaware until i tried to find it.

But how may americans saw the ad?

My only problem with Marchand is that he does not, and really, cannot gauge the effect these ads had on people. While the book is insightfull, well written, and full of intellectal tidbits, that one weakness does tend to bother. Overall, a very good read that provides a nice comparision and contrast with other authors like Lizabeth Cohen.

Excellent read

Marchand's book is an excellent overview of print ads from 1920-1940. Drawing upon copious research, Marchand makes the case that many of the features of modern print ads first appeared during this time period. Ads from Lysol and Lucky Strike are featured as well as some from lesser-known companies. Innovations such as the use of color and the use of the dramatic monologue are also featured. A must -read for those interested in history, business or graphic arts.

A Probing Account of Advertising 1920-1940

Roland Marchand's book is an excellent analysis and history of the advertising industry's move towards modernization from the 20s to the 40s. Beautifully illustrated and entertainingly written, Marchand's book lays out important paradigms for the analysis of advertising of the period. His accounts of the different advertising "parables" created during the time to sell more and more consumer goods is fascinating. A must-read.