Billboards of the 1930sSince their inception, critics have assailed billboards as a blight on the
American landscape. Although legislation has been passed limiting them,
outdoor advertising is much too important for business to be outlawed
entirely. Moreover, billboard art is the cornerstone of America’s poster
history. Before radio and television, the billboard—strategically situated on
roadways, buildings, and city streets—was the primary mass-advertising
vehicle. Although many were produced by anonymous studio artists,
leading illustrators and designers such as Lucian Bernhard (Rem cough
syrup, Amoco gasoline), N. C. Wyeth (Coca Cola), Otis Shepard
(Doublemint gum), A. M. Cassandre (Ford motors), and others applied
their talents. Today, some of these mammoth images are important artifacts
of the material culture.
The earliest recorded leasing of outdoor signboards in the United
States occurred in 1870 ; they were on a fence around a post office under
construction in New York City. Noting the increased need for advertising
media, in 1872 the printing firm of Kissam and Allen began to lease its own
poster panels. Soon poster-stands (as the billboard was first called) dotted
the landscape. In 1891 a standard printed sheet ( 28 " × 42 ") was offered in
combinations ranging from one to twenty-four-sheets. And in 1912 the
standard twenty-four-sheet poster ( 8 ' 10 " × 19 ' 8 ") was the industry choice
as the preferred size for its “Double A” poster panels—the ones still used404