A year ago, also in an anniversary article 100 years ago. Advertising in pre-war Warsaw we wrote about what outdoor advertising looked like in the interwar period. Today, we'll look at an example of press advertising from that time, though outdoor advertising will also make an appearance.

At the end of the 19th century in Warsaw, one of the significant fashion trendsetters was the Bogusław Herse Fashion House. Bogusław Herse's company frequently and eagerly used advertising. Their advertisements appeared in many of the periodicals published at that time.
In 1899, the Bogusław Herse Fashion House acquired a new headquarters at 150 Marszałkowska Street. The building, which was located between Królewska and Rysia streets, no longer exists today, but it can be seen on an old postcard.

This photo is also interesting because it shows two of the first systematic outdoor advertising media that were popular in Warsaw at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: an announcement kiosk and an advertising column.

The Herse fashion house organized fashion shows, and one of the models was actress Stefania Grodzieńska. The company also published its own catalogs and offered mail-order sales. Ladies who couldn't travel to Warsaw could send their measurements (special forms were available), include their well-fitting bodice, and wait for a delivery of a dress, specially tailored to their measurements at Herse.
The company capitalized on the fact that their clients included famous and popular figures. The Herse Fashion House dressed actresses like Hanka Ordonówna and Maria Majdrowiczówna, as well as ladies such as: Zofia Batycka - Miss Polonia 1930, Maria Mościcka - wife of the Polish President, Madame Laroche - the French ambassador's wife, Countess Beata Branicka, Countess Maria Potocka, Mrs. Augusta Zaleska - wife of the Commercial Bank president, and many other distinguished ladies.

One of the magazines that featured advertisements for the Herse Fashion House was Tygodnik Ilustrowany, a socio-cultural weekly that was published continuously for 80 years, starting from 1859.
While browsing through archival volumes, I came across a very interesting Herse advertisement in the January 1919 issue:

The advertisement is for a fur collection, and the illustration shows a Polish soldier in a maciejówka cap, driving a car with an eagle-emblazoned pennant.
This might be the first advertisement showing the new reality at the beginning of 1919.

You can read more about the history of the Bogusław Herse Fashion House on the website: Herse