The changing nature of advertisements in The Freeman's Journal: a case study, 1763-1924

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine the nature of newspaper advertisements published in the Irish newspaper The Freeman's Journal. This is approached by examining the construction of a selection of printed advertisements, including the strategies used in each, which appeared in The Freeman's Journal between 1763 and 1924.

Design/methodology/approach

The central primary source used is The Freeman's Journal and the selected advertisements. A number of primary and secondary sources are employed in the analysis of the featured advertisements in respect to the format, language and marketing strategies used in each.

Findings

The case study finds that there were a number of constants in the advertisements examined, as well as a number of advertising strategies employed from the eighteenth century onward, that have more commonly been associated with the 1918 to 1939 interwar period. It also found that the use of illustrations did not solely depend on twentieth century printing advances, but that printing developments did much to expand and progress advertising in Ireland.

Originality/value

This case study explores a little researched area in Irish advertising history.

Citation

McCarthy, M. (2014), "The changing nature of advertisements in The Freeman's Journal: a case study, 1763-1924", Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 131-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHRM-06-2013-0031