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Before the Industrial Revolution, most Americans lived in isolated areas and produced much of what they needed—tools, clothes, food—themselves. There were few products for sale, other than by merchants who offered additional goods and services in their own communities, so anything like modern advertising simply wasn’t necessary.

All that began changing in the 1850s, with the Industrial Revolution and linking of American villages and towns through railroads, the telegraph, and new print media. Merchants (such as patent medicine makers or cereal producers) wanted to advertise their wares in newspapers and magazines—giving rise to advertising agencies that managed these deals. These first national ads introduced the notion that it was important for sellers to differentiate their product from competing goods. And it inspired more and more businesspeople to adopt advertising to drive sales.

Over the coming decades, all this fueled the growth of a consumer culture, in which Americans began desiring specific products and giving their loyalty to particular brands. Critics began decrying advertising’s power to seemingly dictate values and create needs in people—triggering the formation of watchdog organizations and careful consumers.