Addie Jensen

History 1700
Theodore Moore
Reaction Paper 3
24 March 2016
Affects of War
World War I impacted the Advertising industry heavily. When the U.S. entered the
war many Americans were reluctant, they considered World War I to be a European affair.
The Committee on Public Information was told to sell the war to the American people.
They had a job to share the public opinion not inform the public. Advertising turned into
selling a lifestyle rather than just a product. World War I instigated the advertising
industry that ignited a new and evolved American Lifestyle.
Document one, Remaking Leisure in Middletown by Robert S. Lynd and Helen
Merrell Lynd, describes how the automobile changed the leisure activities of Muncie,
Indiana. The article shows in 1900 only a few hundred cars were owned in Muncie. After
1920 that number increase greatly. At the close of 1923 there were 6,221 passenger cars
in the city, one for every 6.1 persons, or roughly two for every three
families. Of these 6,221 cars, 41 per cent, were Fords; 54 per cent of
the total were cars of models of 1920 or later, and 17 per cent, models
earlier than 1917, (Remaking Leisure in Middletown). More than half
of the cars in Muncie were purchased after World War I. Advertisements
were able to sell more than just a car after the war. They sold the
persona you were more socially accepted when you owned a car. "I'll

go without food before I'll see us give up the car," (Remaking Leisure
in Middletown). People were willing to give up basic necessities in order
to own a car and the perception that came with owning such a
luxurious item. Advertisement after the war shaped the publics opinion
of the type of lifestyle Americans thought they should have.
Advertisement for Listerine (1923) is the second document. In this document it
magnifies how advertisers played to the emotions of the people they were selling their
product to. During the 1920s, it has been noted, advertising copywriters increasingly
emphasized the consumers to whom they hoped to sell products rather than the products
themselves, (Advertisement for Listerine 1923). In this particular ad, Listerine is
reaching out to the female population and the type of woman using Listerine can make
you. It brought her greater poisethat feeling of self-assurance that adds to a woman's
charmand, moreover, a new sense of daintiness that she had never been quite so sure of
in the past, (Advertisement for Listerine 1923). This document highlights how
companies created value in commodities other than the primary purpose of the product
(Class notes 3/23/16). Listerine was masterful at selling a style of life along with their
products.
The Man Nobody Knows (1925), by Bruce Barton, is the third and final document.
In this document it talks about how advertising was central to the consumer-based
economy. The advertising industry was not central to the "associative state" sought by
Herbert Hoover, but it was essential to the consumer goods-based economy and the "new
national culture" of the 1920s, (The Man Nobody Knows 1925). This excerpt shows how
heavily advertising affected the Nations culture. In his book Barton describes a little boy

who is unsure of whom Jesus Christ really was. It describes the males search of the bible
to discover who Jesus was. Throughout his search he begins to see Jesus as the greatest
businessman in the world. He picked up twelve men from the bottom ranks of business
and forged them into an organization that conquered the world, (The Man Nobody
Knows). Through Bartons comparison of Jesus to a businessman he was influencing
people to trust businesses. At that time in America most citizens knew and could relate to
who Jesus Christ was. Barton used this to his advantage to manipulate the American
population to trust businessmen and the products they were selling. He was selling
trustworthiness and honesty along with corporations. This view convinced Americans to
buy into the consumer influence, which led to a new national culture.
During World War I new advertising tactics came into play to convince the
American people their soldiers were fighting for a valid cause. After the War the
advertising world continued to use similar types of propaganda and to sell products. From
the War they learned to sell not only an item but also a lifestyle. Owning a product
convinced people they were more socially and physically desirable (History Notes
3/23/16). The type of advertising used in World War I led Americans to evolve into a
materialistic society.