“The hours were demanding but the pay was good. And the boozy lunches were even better. Australia’s advertising agencies enjoyed their reputation as a glamorous and fun place to work. Not surprisingly, many of the nation’s brightest and most creative young people were drawn to advertising.”

This was advertising in its golden age, 1959-1989.

And there was no degree or certificate to get into it. What you needed most were guts and gumption, and for very many, eventually famous adpeople, the will to work your way up from the bottom.

The hours are still demanding and the pay is still good. A glamorous and fun place to work? Maybe during D&AD and Cannes. And perhaps during the pitches you end up winning. Nothing is like adland in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Perhaps that’s a good thing. The golden age of advertising had its jagged edges.

The golden age of advertising has been documented in a new book called, Behind Glass Doors. The title is apt. The book is based on interviews with more than 100 former adpeople from all agency departments.

It’s the story of managing increasingly powerful clients and creating memorable campaigns. Of how Australian agencies – and indeed Australia – opened up to the wide world of trends and developments. It’s the story of adland before the world went mad for digital. An adland from which Aussie icons like Peter Carey (Grey Advertising) and Ken Done (J.Walter Thompson) created fame.

It  tucks into controversial topics like the shifting tensions between creativity and financial management in adland. It shows how different agencies reimagined themselves in response to global trends.

It’s a great read.

Behind Glass Doors: The World of Australian Advertising Agencies, 1959-1989, by Robert Crawford and Jackie Dickenson, is published by UWA Publishing.