Library Guides: Finding Old Advertisements: Online Resources

Databases

Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines
Contains 65,000 pages with articles, illustrations, cartoons and maps drawn from 49 periodicals. Includes advertisements with images. Every page has been scanned to grayscale or color standards at up to 1200 dpi.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Searchable full-image of the Chicago Defender (1909-2010), Chicago Tribune (1849-1996), Los Angeles Times (1881-1995), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1874-2003), New York Times (1851-2015), Wall Street Journal (1889-2002) and the Washington Post (1877-2002).

Classic TV Commercials (Internet Archive)
International audio and video commercials from 1949-date.
TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design
Search images of advertisements by year, magazine, product, advertiser, illustrator, and more.
Vintage Ad Browser
Breaks down adds by product and decade.
Vintage Advertisements
Broken down by year and occasion.
Jay Paull Vintage Print Advertisements
Jay Paull's private collection of ads from the mid-1800's to the early 1900's. Ability to search by keyword and category.
Not a Cough in a Carload: Images from the Tobacco Industry to Hide the Hazards of Smoking
An exhibition of images depicting tobacco ads from the late 1920's and the early 1950's.