Collecting: Vintage Advertising Art
Hello, and welcome to the world of "Collecting Vintage Advertising Art." I hope you will become excited about this topic, as it provides a particularly rich field for the aspiring collector and also offers fascinating study for anyone interested in art history and design.
Almost everyone is affected by advertising. Consumer spending helps drive our economy, as retailers, manufacturers and other companies are always looking for new ways to promote their products and services. Effective advertising is a vital key to increased sales and growth and has become a multibillion-dollar industry in itself. We are bombarded daily by advertisements on television and radio, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards and signs. It seems to be everywhere. Whether by a catchy slogan or an unforgettable image, the advertiser seeks to entice us not only to spend but also sometimes tries to lure us, drawing us into a world of make-believe -- one in which we can live vicariously, if only for a moment. Studying and collecting examples of advertising from the past can be a fascinating experience, through which you can better understand our culture. You can gain insight into changing mores in society -- how our tastes and attitudes have evolved through the years.
For this topic, I will be concerned primarily with paper collectibles, but with one notable exception: the advertising sign, which was most often made of metal. As to what may represent "art," this is often a strictly subjective determination, but I am concentrating on those advertising collectibles that have some form of distinctive artwork or design associated with them, as opposed to being merely a plain representation of a particular product or service. In deciding what constitutes "vintage," my focus will be mainly upon the period from the latter part of the 19th century to the outbreak of World War II. It is during this time that advertising rapidly became an integral part of our culture.
Advertising art is an essential aspect of marketing today, but it was also recognized as such more than a century ago. The steady development of color lithography in the late 1800s revolutionized the advertising industry, as new technology enabled printers to rapidly produce increasingly dynamic advertisements, marked by vivid colors and striking designs. This topic offers a great variety of collectibles. Primary attention will be upon posters, signs, postcards, trade cards, magazines and labels, but many others will also be considered.
Posters were particularly effective in advertising products, ranging from fine wine and sporty automobiles to hand soap and bicycles. They promoted travel, an escape by rail, through the air or across the sea to adventure in exciting and exotic locales. Then, too, they might announce the latest show on stage or movie release at the theater or perhaps trumpet the attractions of a touring circus.
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