Commercial Advertising in Tomsk Province Periodicals (1881-1895)

Abstract

The article attempts to review and systematize the informational content of commercial advertisements on the pages of periodicals of the Tomsk province (18811895). The publication analyzes advertising publications in the context of product promotion on the local market; identifies the main classes of advertised goods and groups of services; highlights common and distinctive features in advertising of public and private newspapers. Periodicals at the end of the nineteenth century became an effective channel of direct communication between an entrepreneur and a potential buyer. The authors conclude that advertisements are important as a historical source on the history of regional entrepreneurship and trade. Advertising was directly related to the sale of products and informed readers about the range of products, current prices, new arrivals, sales and discounts. Advertisements on the pages of state and private periodicals indicate that Siberian and metropolitan entrepreneurs offered the population of Tomsk province a diverse range of goods and services. The advertised products reflected not only the economic and socio-cultural specifics of the region, but also system-wide changes characteristic of the all-Russian level.