Published: July 26, 2011

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 27

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WASHINGTON, July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 27: FIRST AUTOMOBILE AD

Profile America -- Wednesday, July 27th. The nation's love affair with automobiles is well over a hundred years old, and our obsession can be traced through the years by looking at advertising as cars progressed from romantic plaything to daily necessity. The first known national ad about a car appeared this week 113 years ago in the Scientific American, for the Winton Motor Carriage with the headline "Dispense with a horse." As millions of Americans did just that, competing car companies increased their spending on advertising. By 1906, 57 car companies spent over a half-million dollars advertising in 12 national magazines. Today, cars and trucks are a major part of the more than $163 billion spent annually on advertising. Profile America is in its 15th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Ad Age Special Edition, January 1996, p. 1-2

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 1278

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau