Since the dawn of man, someone somewhere has been promoting products and services.
The cave man likely advertised that he was the biggest and best by displaying his club, physical size and verbal attributes. The final customer was probably female. Conversely, the female could have had her own technique to encourage interest.
Perhaps the arrow maker, Uma Guma, used a live demonstration to show the rest of the tribe why they couldn’t live without his product. With the evolution of civilization, products and services were advertised in a less abstract manner.
For example, Uma Guma may have drawn his superior arrow with a stick in the sand. Later, the Chinese invented paper and a message could be accurately conveyed from one place to another. Who knows, maybe the first written advertisement was for paper and ink. However you look at it, advertising is one of the staples of modern society.
Advertising as art
The 19th and 20th centuries saw an explosion of agricultural products. Luckily, the printing press had been invented and beautiful etchings and color lithographs could be employed by the manufacturers to advertise their wares. Today, the advertising from this period is quite collectable and in some cases very beautiful.
D. C. Stover was no different than his contemporaries as is shown by this clever advertising pamphlet.
I find this little historical tidbit quite fascinating because we think of “racy” advertising as being a fairly modern phenomenon. Obviously, Stover wasn’t above using a little “spice” to pique the interest of the hard working farmer in an effort to separate him from his money. Such is “free enterprise.”
Stover registry
I continue to look up Stover engines and have more than 924 engines on the registry spreadsheet. Please enclose your location and phone number if you send me an e-mail. An updated PDF of the registry is available for download on the Stover Registry page.
Until next time, keep your plugs dry and your igniters oiled.
Contact Joe Maurer at 797 S. Silberman Rd., Pearl City, IL 61062 • (815) 443-2223 • toadhill@aeroinc.net.
