It is America at the turn of the century, around 1895 to 1905. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, better machines and busier factories have created a ripple effect on everyday life. Improved schools and a shorter work week mean that now more Americans can read, and others even have some leisure time. "Although better machines mean better business, nowhere is change more evident than in the printing industry, where faster, cheaper, more efficient print technology has opened the floodgates of mass communication." "The growing demand of leisure-time reading is met with an avalanche of pulp fiction, dime novels, and little magazines. In the heat of competition, savvy publishers commission some of America's finest artists and illustrators to design posters as part of their aggressive ad campaigns." "Posters, designed to sell, blossom into a "golden age." As Americans' passion for posters heats into a full-blown poster craze, the posters soon overshadow the products they were meant to promote." "This book presents vintage posters from the Virginia Museum's renowned collection of decorative arts, with examples by 45 artists, including Will Bradley, W. W. Denslow, Charles Dana Gibson, J. C. Leyendecker, Blanche McManus, Maxfield Parrish, Edward Penfield, Maurice Prendergast, Ethel Reed, and Louis John Rhead."