Modern society has a funny relationship with advertising. It’s a billion-dollar industry measured in cents. It bankrolls Google and our favorite shows and the free press, but it’s often impossible to say how well it works, or whether it works at all. It’s everywhere. And we hate it.
Another paradox: wait a few decades, and advertising is no longer effective – but it gets more interesting. The ads you see here appeared in Idaho Falls phone books between the 1920s and the 1970s. Some of these businesses have withstood the test of time. Chesbro Music Co. has been around since it had a two-digit phone number. Two! Other businesses, for various reasons, are long gone. Looking at these ads, what can you learn about commerce and life in our city’s past?