The May 23, 1863, issue of Harper’s Weekly ran the following ad by E.P. Gleason, a New York-based manufacturer. The ad, which promoted Gleason’s “Kerosine Crater,” an attachment to be used with a kerosine lamp, was ahead of its time, as evidenced by Gleason’s use of what we’d today call emojis—small images or icons used to epress ideas, emotions, etc. It’s unclear how well Gleason’s ad performed, but it certainly gets an “A” for creativity.
