→ Expanding rail connections, and advances in graphics techniques, enable manufacturers to reach customers in distant locations, with ads depicting a vast new range of products

Reaching Customers

The ads shown here offer a sampling of advertising styles. Photographs are now fairly common, but there is no way to print them for ads. Consequently, advertising illustrations are usually engravings.

The ads are straight-forward, describing the product. None feature modern devices, such as cute babies and scenes full of smiling faces, to attract attention. For now, the world is firmly interested in function.


	Displaying the Products Manufacturers advertise all kinds of products. Early on, ads tend to focus on transportation services, like rail and steamship companies, with money to spend on promotion. Ads for farming equipment are also common. As the Industrial Era gathers steam, new home appliances are featured more frequently. Industrial ads, by contrast, are targeted at the manufacturers themselves, who are always interested in production equipment featuring the latest technology.



	Newspaper Ads Printers in 1870 are still largely confined to black-and-white printing. Graphics in the ads are mainly engravings carefully carved from hard wooden blocks.


	Transportation Ads Major advertisers are railroads and steamboat lines, reflecting the recent upgrade in transportation options.


	New Mix of Customers Ads feature equipment for both rural and newly-appearing urban settings, including the first home appliances.


	Home goods Ads Clothing and furniture stores are well represented, along with a smattering of products from local manufacturers.


	Industrial Ads Industrial firms are beginning to advertise some of their more specialized equipment, tailored for specific tasks.