Advertising Poster, "Patterson Aviator," 1915-1916

In the late nineteenth century, printers developed a lithograph method that produced brightly colored posters. Manufacturers quickly adopted the new poster style to advertise their products. This poster promotes the aerial entertainment services of the Patterson Aviators of Detroit, Michigan, in the 1910s. It shows the Wright brothers' Model B biplane which aviators often purchased for performing aerial exhibitions.

In the late nineteenth century, printers developed a lithograph method that produced brightly colored posters. Manufacturers and other businesses quickly adopted the new poster style to advertise their products. The posters were glued to building walls, fences, and hung in store displays where they readily attracted the attention of passersby.

Companies hired printers who worked with artists to create art that would advertise the products. In the early years, the point of the artwork was to gain notice rather than illustrate the product. By the early twentieth century, the design began to reflect a direct connection to the merchandise advertised. Although most of the artists are unknown today, these posters reflected popular American taste from the 1870s through the 1920s.

This poster of the Wright brothers' Model B biplane has instant appeal. It happens to advertise the aerial entertainment services of the Patterson Aviators of Detroit, Michigan, in the 1910s. A significant fact is that in less than ten years, entrepreneurs were using the fruit of Wilbur and Orville Wright's invention begun with their first successful flight in 1903. It grew from an impossible dream to a part of our everyday life. Daredevil fliers in the 1910s and 1920s, also called barnstormers, showed people the possibility of flight by creating high-risk, exciting spectacles soaring through the sky. Crowds flocked to numerous public events like circuses, county fairs, and air shows, eagerly shelling out their hard-earned money simply for the privilege of watching these high-flying acrobatics.