Format guide

Advertising Formats

Identify magazine ads, trade cards, posters, labels, packaging, displays, catalogs, premiums, and other commercial formats.

Start with the exact physical object, then narrow by campaign, date, manufacture, place, and condition.
Format guide

Magazine Advertisements

Full-page, half-page, color, black-and-white, gatefold, insert, and campaign-series magazine advertising.

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Newspaper Advertisements

Local retail, classified, display, grand-opening, political, entertainment, and product advertising printed on newsprint.

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Advertising Trade Cards

Victorian chromolithographed cards, stock designs, local merchant overprints, die cuts, albums, and complete sets.

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Advertising Posters

Lithographed, offset, screen-printed, photographic, travel, product, event, and point-of-sale posters.

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Advertising Calendars

Wall calendars, calendar pads, pin-up art, local-business issues, dealer pieces, and complete dated examples.

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Product Catalogs

Mail-order, dealer, industrial, automotive, fashion, toy, hardware, and wholesale catalogs with dated product evidence.

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Brochures and Sales Literature

Foldouts, dealer brochures, product leaflets, tourism pieces, specifications, and launch literature.

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Advertising Ink Blotters

Drugstore, insurance, bank, farm, automotive, and local-business blotters with compact graphics and address data.

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Product Labels

Bottle, can, box, crate, cigar, medicine, food, textile, and shipping labels, unused or removed from packages.

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Packages and Boxes

Cartons, wrappers, tins, bags, sleeves, packets, and branded containers where structure matters as much as graphics.

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Advertising Matchbooks

Hotels, restaurants, bars, factories, dealers, political campaigns, and local-business matchcovers and full books.

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Menus and Table Advertising

Restaurant menus, hotel dining pieces, placemats, table tents, drink cards, and seasonal inserts.

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Advertising Postcards

Business views, product cards, grand openings, roadside attractions, hotels, factories, and direct-mail campaigns.

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Store Displays

Counter displays, window cards, easel backs, standees, mobiles, shelf talkers, and dimensional point-of-sale pieces.

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Counter Cards

Cardboard easel displays, product cards, price panels, die cuts, and small retail fixtures.

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Advertising Premiums

Giveaways, toys, rulers, thermometers, pocket mirrors, sewing kits, tokens, fans, and useful branded objects.

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Decals and Stickers

Dealer decals, window transfers, water-slide decals, product labels, bumper stickers, and unused sheets.

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Letterheads, Invoices, and Receipts

Business stationery, illustrated billheads, receipts, envelopes, order forms, and correspondence with commercial identity.

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Salesman Samples

Miniature packages, sample books, swatch sets, demonstration pieces, and traveling-sales kits.

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Advertising Hand Fans

Cardboard and paper fans for funeral homes, churches, banks, merchants, political campaigns, and events.

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