Advertising consumer goods nineteenth-century Britain: reinterpretations

A survey of the theoretical and empirical literature which relates primaril y to the history of advertising in the US provides a comparative context wi thin which to interpret advertising in Britain in the nineteenth century. B y referring to secondary sources, the limited literature which deals with B ritish experience is shown to be flawed with respect to the timing, charact eristics, and explanations for the emergence of modern advertising. The the oretical and American literature suggests questions which only primary rese arch on the economic and business history of advertising in Britain can ans wer.