Great American Billboards: 100 Years of History by the Side of the Road by: Basten, Fred E.
Softcover. San Francisco, Ten Speed Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 224 pages. Early in the 20th century, as Americans climbed into their Model-Ts and took to the open road, American manufacturers and retailers discovered miles and miles of new advertising space, and the audaciously oversized billboard was born. For a century, billboards have recruited, congratulated, teased, sold, and seduced us, promoting everything under the sun, from hosiery to war bonds, presidential candidates to rock shows. GREAT AMERICAN BILLBOARDS not only offers a lively look back at changing styles, products, and tastes, but is also an important visual record of this largely unheralded yet ubiquitous American art form.