Ads in verse in the early years of the magazine Caras y Caretas (1898-1900): between humour, politics and persuasion

Abstract

In the historiography of argentine advertising, the period from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is of particular importance, since the first steps of the modern advertising began to form and articulate in those years in a society undergoing the pressure of massive immigration, the emerging middle class, and a working class encouraged by social mobility. This paper analyzes the advertisements graphics in verse in the early years of the magazine Caras y Caretas (1898-1900) as a phenomenon on the way to the autonomy of advertising: from humour and politics to the modern advertising. This rhetorical style radically changed form 1900 when argentine magazines began charging for advertising. The purpose of this paper is to explore the form and functions of this type of ads in Caras y Caretas, 1898-1900, from historical sociolinguistics applied to advertising.