| 1704 |
| The first newspaper advertisement, an announcement seeking a buyer for an Oyster Bay, Long Island, estate, is published in the Boston News-Letter. |
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| 1742 |
| Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine prints the first American magazine ads. |
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| 1833 |
| Benjamin Day publishes the Sun, the first successful "penny newspaper" in New York. By 1837, circulation reaches 30,000, making it the world's largest newspaper. |
Corbis-Bertman |
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| 1867 |
| New York agency Carlton & Smith begins buying the right to place advertising in religious magazines. |
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| 1873 |
| The first convention of advertising agents is held in New York. |
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| 1880 |
| Department store founder John Wanamaker is the first retailer to hire a full-time advertising copywriter, John E. Powers. |
UPI/Corbis-Bertman |
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| 1882 |
| Procter & Gamble Co. begins advertising Ivory soap with an unprecedented budget of $11,000. |
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| 1729 |
| Benjamin Franklin begins publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette in Philadelphia, which includes pages of "new advertisements." |
Archive Photos |
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| 1784 |
| The Pennsylvania Packet & Daily Advertiser, America's first successful daily newspaper, starts in Philadelphia. |
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| 1843 |
| Volney Palmer opens the first advertising agency in Philadelphia.
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| 1868 |
| With $250, Francis Wayland Ayer opens N.W. Ayer & Son (named after his father) in Philadelphia and implements the first commission system based on "open contracts." His clients include Montgomery Ward, John Wanamaker Department Stores, Singer Sewing Machines and Pond's Beauty Cream. |
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| 1877 |
| James Walter Thompson buys Carlton & Smith from William J. Carlton, paying $500 for the business and $800 for the office furniture. He renames it after himself and moves into general magazine advertising. Later, he invents the position of account executive. |
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| 1881 |
| Daniel M. Lord and Ambrose L. Thomas form Lord & Thomas in Chicago. The firm eventually becomes Foote, Cone & Belding. |
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| 1883 |
| Cyrus H.K. Curtis launches Ladies' Home Journal with his wife, Louisa Knapp Curtis, as editor. |
Corbis/Bertman-UPI |
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