Space wars

How the race for space began

Although a printing press arrived on Australian soil along with the first fleet, there did not seem a lot to advertise in an essentially subsistence economy. It was not until March 8, 1800 that the first advertisement was a created in Australia. It was a poster for a double feature performance of “The Recruiting Officer” and “The Virgin Unmasked”. Three years later, the first newspaper ad followed and soon everything from cigarettes to cures for baldness found its way into print.

The first magazine advertisement appeared on May 1, 1821 in the “Australian Magazine: Compendium of Religious, Literary and Miscellaneous Intelligence”. It was another century before commercial radio found its way onto our dial in 1923 and television was introduced in time for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. By this time, Australia had a traditional system of mass media advertising in place and the race was on to use this space to deliver advertising messages.