The History of Motivational Posters

They cropped up in the late 1980's like waters stains on walls. They generally had eye-catching black background, bright white lettering framing a deeply inspiring photograph. This became one of the must-have office accessories since 1985, when the company Successories began to sell these posters designed by Mac Anderson.

The Power of Posters

Successories did not tap invent anything new - they invented an old concept in a new way. Before Successories, there were many posters incorporating words and pictures. In the 1970's, an image of a kitten dangling from a branch with the words "Hang in there, baby!" were in almost every kid's bedroom in America.

Even before that were political propaganda posters. These could be extolled for good or for ill, depending on the government that used them. Posters are still used in advertising to stick their product's name and slogan into the subconscious of consumers.

Writing Magic

But why even bother making a motivational poster? Wouldn't people get tired of seeing the same words and images over and over again? Actually, that's part of the point. Seeing the same thing over and over does program the subconscious to remember the poster's positive message in times of adversity.

Books in the 1940's were already extolling the power of affirmations. These are very short, positive phrases. Books for salesmen suggested actually writing down positive messages such as a daily sales goal and tacking that up to the bathroom mirror or anywhere it would often be seen.

And where did they get their ideas about affirmations from? It's from an ancient belief that people have about writing being inherently magical. Our ancestors believed that the writing itself was a living thing capable of bringing anything into existence. Jewish mystics who practice the Cabbala believe that God created the world merely by writing or uttering four letters. We still hold these beliefs today. A contract isn't a contract until it is put down in writing.

Poster Parodies

Motivational posters have become so commonplace that they have launched many incredibly funny parodies. The leader of this line of posters is Despair, Inc. although there are some software programs that allow you to create your own mock-motivational poster.

Harold Mathewson is a journalist and sociologist from Denmark. He is researching hobbies and other similar activities.