In this post we will recall the origins of outdoor advertising through one of the pioneers in exterior signage as was The RC Maxwell Company. His magnificent collection consisting of more than 35,000 professional photographs of billboards taken since 1917 to the 90's was donated in 1996 to University Duke by David C. Maxwell. A small portion of these photographs we can watch the digital library Emergence of Advertising in America of Duke University but enough to allow us to enjoy and observe the excellent outdoor advertising that The RC Maxwell developed in rural areas, cars, people, shops, promenades and beaches, located in various cities of the American East Coast, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, etc..
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk9sTEarWI/AAAAAAAAAdI/EciOW_3riU8/s400/1917.jpg)
The RC Maxwell Company was founded in 1894 in Trenton (New Jersey) by the then 21-year old painter Robert Chester Maxwell. Until its sale in 2000 was the company's oldest outdoor advertising existed.
In the nineteenth century the railroad was the main means of transport, Maxwell started his business structures built on wooden boards, which placed large billboards to be seen by travelers. With the advent of the automobile business was expanded with billboards along the growing network of roads and highways where for many years has been informing motorists to become part of American culture.
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk5_hqMdfI/AAAAAAAAAcw/tZaKNI8zS8Q/s400/Publicidad+en+los+trenes+1925.jpg)
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk5Zln0HNI/AAAAAAAAAco/qZvIyGc6-Dc/s400/Valla+publicitaria+1921.jpg)
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk4fqlJhOI/AAAAAAAAAcg/U_7jp1NseK8/s400/Cerca+del+Lincol+Tunel+en+Pennsylvania+1922.jpg)
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk3-uTh4VI/AAAAAAAAAcY/SODAYL3JMIo/s400/Carretera+1922.jpg)
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk2F5YVngI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SNls6nkNETM/s400/atlantic+city+1920+boardwalk.jpg)
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk1wHQ6o3I/AAAAAAAAAcI/AaUBSGR4MoI/s400/Atlantic+city+1920.jpg)
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk1Q239xbI/AAAAAAAAAcA/g8wOf8V8SKY/s400/Atlantic+city+1921.jpg)
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/Sqk0T9k-zaI/AAAAAAAAAb4/9LYvQPJcbgc/s400/colgate+termometro+atlatic+city+1920.jpg)
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/SqkzMfPw4lI/AAAAAAAAAbo/Ro5ZA39ftbQ/s400/Atlatic+City+1294+Boardwalk.jpg)
The built in 1926 for Chesterfield cigarettes firm located in Steeplechase Pier between Pennsylvania Avenue and the boardwalk of Atlantic City, was the largest, beautiful and spectacular electric signs in the world. It was composed of 26,000 light bulbs for 75 seconds duration of a cycle and in 27 stages were going on to finish in a blaze of gold and white before shutting down completely and start again.
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/SqkviWfHb9I/AAAAAAAAAbI/dusQDOEUvlM/s400/luiky+1925+altlantic+city.jpg)
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vTxToOl-dfM/SqkuZKdygwI/AAAAAAAAAbA/32qdlUncgQA/s400/Atlalatic+city+1922+pier.jpg)
collection of photographs of RC Maxwell Company are important not only for its advertising content but because it also shows urban and rural landscapes from a time far enough to constitute the them, a valuable document of American culture of the early twentieth century.
All photographs displayed in this post belong to the Duke University and can be found on this link to a non-commercial use of them.
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/eaa/browse/maxwell/
are part of the digital library at Duke University: Emergence of Advertising in America
http:// library.duke.edu / digitalcollections / eaa /
recommend to click on the pictures to enlarge.