Why does MMA cover only the years from 1911 to 1960?
The ads in the MMA database are drawn from the J.Walter Thompson Company archives, which has only a small number of pre-1910 advertisements. We stopped in 1960 largely to keep the database to a manageable size. Fortunately, this fifty-year period documents many striking changes in health-related advertising appeals. For examples of a wide array of advertisements from the late 19th century up to the 1920s, including health and hygiene ads, see Emergence of Advertising in America.
