Advertising History

Advertising: History and Archives

Contact

Debora Cheney
Larry and Ellen Foster Communications Librarian, and, Head, Library Services to the World Campus/Penn State Online
814-863-1345

or Your Campus Librarian

Related Guides

Advertising

Advertising Media Plan

Finding Advertisements

Advertising Award Winners

History

Search the Penn State Library CAT

Videorecordings related to History of advertising

Series: All-American Ads (edited by Jim Heimann) Exhaustive compendium of ads from each period of the 20th century

Includes consumer categories:

automobile
food and beverage
entertainment
alcohol and tobacco
travel
business and industry
interiors
fashion and beauty
consumer products

By decade and specialty ad
Decade	Specialty Ad
1900-1919	Innocent time of advertising
1920s	Selling the Goods – ads of the Jazz Age
1930s	Depression – morale booster ads
1940s	World War II
1950s	Atomic/Defense – Americans enter atomic age
1960s	"Creative Revolution" – witty copy & image
1970s	Advertising focus groups – smaller niche
1980s	Introduction of electronics

Additional Print Resources related to History of advertising
- Examples of titles:
  - Adland: A Global History of Advertising, Mark Tungate
    - Satellite view of global industry
    - Origins of modern advertising
  - Advertising in America: The First 200 Years, Charles A. Goodrum and Helen Dalrymple
    - Advertising timeline with influences, styles
    - Examines selling techniques, devices, and themes
    - More than 600 print advertising images
  - 50 Years of Advertising as Seen Through the Eyes of Advertising Age 1930-1980, compiled and edited by Allan Marin
    - Advertising Age's overview of each decade 1930-1970
    - More than 1500 images/selections
    - 14,000 listings of pictures, personalities, articles, and ads from 1930-1979 issues
  - Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising, Juliann Sivulka
    - Explores consumer culture and social trends 1492-1990's
    - Major developments and prominent admakers
  - The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and Its Creators, Stephen R. Fox
    - Emphasis on advertising copywriters, artists, executives
    - Relationship between American culture and advertising
  - From Submarines to Suburbs: Selling a Better America, 1939-1959, Cynthia Lee Henthorn
    - Mobilization and post-war planning in advertising
    - Interaction of government and corporate propaganda

Web Resources

Finding and Using Digital Images - Advertising University of Washington Libraries Web page with links to various sites that explore the historical images used in advertising

General Collections

Ad*Access Duke University: John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising and Marketing History
- 7,000 advertisements from United States and Canada
- Five subject areas:
  - Beauty and Hygiene, 1911-1956
  - Radio, 1922-1956
  - Television, 1939-1957
  - Transportation, 1938-1957
  - World War II, 1942-1945
American Memory Advertising Collection Multimedia web site of digitized historical ads from the Library of Congress collections
- Advertising Multiformat 1850-1920
- Broadsides and Printed Ephemera 1600-2000
- Coca-Cola Advertising Films 1951-1999
- Coolidge Era Multiformat 1924-1929
- Edison Companies Advertising films 1897-1910
- Posters, WPA 1936-1943
American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I From Readex, a division of NewsBank, Inc. (for researchers with a Penn State Access Account)
- Based on the American Antiquarian Society’s collection
- 15,000 broadsides, 1820-1900
- 15,000 ephemera, 1760-1900
- Search by genre, subject, place of publication
Coloribus Global advertising archive from AdMe Group, LLC
- 2 million ads from 1990-present
- Search by year, product, media
- Advanced searches require paid subscription
Vintage Ad Browser Collection created by Philipp Lenssen and released in 2010
- Over 120,000 vintage ads from 1800-2001
- Over 50 browsable categories - limited search function
The Advertising Archives Established by private collector’s Larry and Suzanne Viner
- British and American press advertisements from 1850-present
- 50,000 images available online to registered users
- British TV stills
Adflip.com Privately financed – allows guests limited access – full access to paid members
- 6000 print ads from 1940-2001
- Searchable by year, decade, category
A History Teacher’s Bag of Tricks from The History Project, University of California, Davis - Roland Marchand and other historians of advertising and pop culture collection
- 8600 images with image details
- Searchable by theme, region, collection
University of Illinois Advertising Exhibit Snapshot of physical collection, online highlights of exhibit
- 17 themed categories of ads
- D'Arcy Collection, 1890-1970
- Woodward Collection, late 1800's - 1980's

Selective Collections

GLAAD Advertising Media Program Nonprofit - Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation in media
- 1917-present
- Ad respect score
- TV - 1402 TV commercials
- Print - 2556 images
Philip Morris Advertising Archive Philip Morris USA Incorporated – Created as a stipulation of the master settlement agreement with tobacco industry
- 55,000 color images of tobacco ads dating from 1909
- Searchable by brand name and title
The Geography of Slavery in Virginia University of Virginia’s College at Wise
- Digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves and servants in 18th and 19th century Virginia newspapers
- 4000 ads
- 1736-1803
- Searchable by date, place, ad type