# Advertising column

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{{Short description|Sidewalk structure for advertising}}
thumb|A Morris column in la place Diaghilev, Paris
An '''advertising column''' is a cylindrical outdoor [sidewalk](/source/sidewalk) structure with a characteristic style that is used for [advertising](/source/advertising) and other purposes. They are common throughout [Germany](/source/Germany)<ref name=Parry2011>{{citation | last=Parry | first=Roger | year=2011 | title=The Ascent of Media | publisher=Nicholas Brealey Publishing | isbn=9781857889468 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ieVEXO6FQm4C&dq=morris+columns&pg=PT71}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2026}} including its capital [Berlin](/source/Berlin), where the first 100 columns were installed in 1855. Advertising columns were invented by the German printer [Ernst Litfaß](/source/Ernst_Litfa%C3%9F) in 1854. Therefore, they are known as '''Litfass columns''' ({{langx|de|Litfaßsäulen}}, singular {{lang|de|Litfaßsäule}}).

In France, they are called '''Morris columns''' ({{langx|fr|colonnes Morris}}) after Gabriel Morris,<ref name=MetropolitanMuseumofArtNewYork2010>{{citation | author=Metropolitan Museum of Art New York | year=2010 | title=The Robert Lehman Collection: Nineteenth- and twentieth-century paintings | publisher=The Museum | page=59}}</ref> a printer, who held the concession for advertising in 1868. They were originally built by {{lang|fr|La Société Fermière des Colonnes Morris}}. Today, they are mostly built and maintained by the [JCDecaux](/source/JCDecaux) company, which purchased the original company in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcdecaux.com/content/jcdecaux_fr/innovationdesign/40ans/40gamme8.html |title=Colonne |work=40 ans d'innovation |accessdate=2006-05-19 |author=JCDecaux |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060313043448/http://www.jcdecaux.com/content/jcdecaux_fr/innovationdesign/40ans/40gamme8.html |archivedate=2006-03-13 }}</ref>
At the beginning of 2006, there were 790 Morris columns in Paris;<ref name=Simon2007>{{citation | last=Simon | first=Philippe | year=2007 | title=Paris visite guidée: architecture, urbanism, history and actuality | publisher=Picard | isbn=9782708407916 | page=157 |type=English ed. }}</ref> more than two hundred were to be removed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.20minutes.fr/paris/68624-20060106-paris-les-colonnes-morris-en-voie-de-disparition |title=Les colonnes Morris en voie de disparition |website=[20 minutes](/source/20_minutes_(France)) |date=6 January 2006 |language=French }}</ref>{{Update inline|date=March 2026}}

==Development==
[[File:Berlins_erste_Litfaßsäule.jpg|thumb|First advertising column by [Ernst Litfaß](/source/Ernst_Litfa%C3%9F) in Berlin]]
The idea of advertising pillars came about in order to combat rampant advertising and graffiti.
Ernst Litfaß suggested that pillars should be built all over Berlin. People could then place their advertisements on these pillars. On 5 December 1854, after years of proceedings, Berlin's chief of police, Karl Ludwig von Hinkeldey authorized Litfaß' ''Annoncier-Säulen''. Litfaß had exclusive rights to build these columns until 1865.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}}

==Purposes==
Advertising columns are typically used to display advertisements in the form of posters, mainly theater, cinema, nightclub, and concert announcements. Some are motorized and rotate very slowly, and others house [Sanisette](/source/Sanisette)s or [telephone booth](/source/telephone_booth)s.{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}

In 2017, anti-pollution Morris columns were tested in Paris; they contained materials which filter out particles from the air in order to mitigate carbon dioxide pollution.<ref>{{cite news |first=Houssine |last=Bouchama |url=https://www.timeout.fr/paris/le-blog/des-colonnes-morris-pour-depolluer-paris-090817 |title=Des colonnes Morris pour dépolluer Paris |website=Time Out Paris |date=8 September 2017 |language=French }}</ref>

==See also==
* [Billboard](/source/Billboard)
*[Street furniture](/source/Street_furniture)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026174216/http://www.paris.fr/portail/deplacements/Portal.lut?page_id=19&document_type_id=5&document_id=4924&portlet_id=652 Mobilier Urbain] – Inventory of street installations in Paris (in French)

{{Authority control}}

Category:Advertising
Category:Street furniture

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Advertising column](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_column) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_column?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.