Testimonial Advertising in the American Marketplace

MARINA MOSKOWITZ is Director of the Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies and a Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of Glasgow, UK. MARLIS SCHWEITZER is an Assistant Professor at York University in Toronto, Canada.

"Steeped as we are today in celebrity brands and viral marketing, we find it difficult to imagine a world where the market's word-of-mouth operated quite differently. Thanks to these original and engaging articles, though, we can now track the fascinating strategies that enabled American advertising to recast the question of consumer trust, liberating it from the rigid protocols of patrician sponsorship and immersing it in the complex, modern mix of mass celebrity, technical expertise, domestic authority, and street cred. Each page brings us something new." - Jean-Christophe Agnew, Professor of American Studies and History, Yale University "This volume of essays charts the cultural history of a phenomenon that influences us all, one whose power we are reluctant to acknowledge. Testimonials are centuries old and utterly contemporary, and these essays illuminate the many aspects of their role in making consumer culture. If you ve ever wondered why we are so willing to take the word of others when we buy, whether from Oprah or a neighbor down the street, this book offers compelling explanations - and a host of new questions to ponder." - Charles F. McGovern, Associate Professor of American Studies and History, College of William and Mary "Finally! A wonderful study of the centrality of testimonials to 20th century advertising. With insightful essays on consumer deception, blackface performance, seed advertising and celebrity culture, among other excellent contributions, Testimonial Advertising represents the leading edge of the cultural turn of the new business history. It is a must-read for scholars of business, culture, and modern consumerism." - Elspeth H. Brown, Director, Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Toronto

• Introduction; M.Moskowitz & M.Schweitzer Testimonials in Silk: Juba and the Legitimization of American Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain; S.B.Johnson 'The Testifying Subject': Reliability in Nineteenth-Century Marketing, Science, and Law; M.Pettit 'After a season of war': Sharing Horticultural Success in the Reconstruction-Ear Landscape; M.Moskowitz 'The Ten Year Club': Artificial Limbs and Testimonials in the Early Twentieth Century; E.Slavishak 'The Mad Search for Beauty': Actresses, Cosmetics, and the Middle-Class Market; M.Schweitzer 'I am Kay and I Prefer Modern': Bridal Testimonials and the Rise of Consumer Rites, 1920s-1950s; V.Howard 'Dear Friend': Charles Atlas, American Masculinity, and the Bodybuilding Testimonial, 1894-1944; D.Padurano 'For Us, By Us': Hip Hop Fashion, Commodity Blackness and the Culture of Emulation; M.Rizzo