Politics: the use of power, the art of administration of a state. This is something that has existed since man could assemble in an attempt to organize a state in an effort to eradicate chaos and establish order, the rule of Law. More recently, the bumper sticker, not even a century old, for obvious reasons; it could not have been invented until after the advent of the personal vehicle. In a way that only history could describe, the ancient process of politics combines with a completely new form of technology and expression; not just the vehicle, but what is stuck to its bumper. There is good reason for this, as your car gets much more exposure on the road everyday than you may be aware of. The political bumper sticker is a perfect example of a custom sticker. Political stickers of this sort are not only political in nature, but social commentary. What this means is that not only can a sticker be pro party, or anti administration, it can say something about the people behind all the various political organizations and policies.
Originally the bumper sticker showed up in the early 1930's just prior to WWII. It was after the war that the bumper sticker became used as a tool for campaigning. This was before bumper stickers were even really "stickers". At this point bumper stickers were metal plates attached to the bumper by metal wires. Forest P. Gill is credited as the father of the modern bumper sticker. In 1934, he founded "Gill-Line," originally a silk screen printing company in Kansas, which is now a world leader of bumper stickers, from his home where for the first few years he printed everything by hand. He invented the modern version of what we consider the bumper sticker after researching and applying pressure sensitive adhesive as a better way to bond his custom stickers.
The success of the idea of bumper stickers was enough to convince advertisers how much exposure the bumper sticker had to offer. Special business relationships were developed with commercial advertising distributors which turned out to be very lucrative. Finally people in general decided how much the idea of bumper stickers appealed to them, and all kinds of bumper stickers began to be printed. Political custom sticker printing is a huge industry today and in all likeliness, will probably always be. As long as we have politics there will be a demand for stickers to express our many sentiments about policy, administration and global events. The bumper sticker is an ideal media for wearing your political heart on your "sleeve," or bumper in this case.