Format guide

Antique Advertising Formats

Identify trade cards, tins, signs, labels, packaging, trays, displays, calendars, catalogs, premiums, and other early commercial formats.

Start with the exact physical object, then narrow by printing, material, date, business, place, originality, and condition.
Format guide

Victorian Trade Cards

Chromolithographed cards, local merchant overprints, stock images, die cuts, albums, sets, and backs.

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Advertising Tins

Food, tobacco, medicine, candy, spice, tea, coffee, talc, polish, and household tins with period construction.

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Format guide

Tin Lithographed Signs

Flat, embossed, flange, hanging, dealer, and store signs printed on sheet metal.

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Porcelain Enamel Signs

Heavy enamel signs for fuel, tobacco, food, farm, railroad, telephone, and local businesses.

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Wood Trade Signs

Carved, painted, shaped, hanging, occupational, folk-art, and storefront signs.

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Advertising Trays

Lithographed tin serving trays, tip trays, brewery trays, soda trays, and dealer pieces.

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Tip Trays

Small metal or composition trays used in bars, hotels, restaurants, drugstores, and retail counters.

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Store Bins and Cabinets

Countertop tins, tea bins, spool cabinets, seed drawers, tobacco dispensers, and branded retail fixtures.

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Counter Displays

Easel backs, die cuts, cardboard figures, product cards, sample boards, and early point-of-sale pieces.

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Labels and Wrappers

Bottle, cigar, crate, box, medicine, fruit, food, textile, and shipping labels, loose or attached.

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Boxes and Packaging

Cartons, packets, wooden crates, paper boxes, sleeves, bags, and complete branded containers.

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Advertising Calendars

Complete calendars, calendar tops, local merchant issues, illustrated pads, and mechanical calendars.

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Posters and Broadsides

Lithographed posters, letterpress broadsides, window bills, product notices, and event advertising.

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Billheads and Letterheads

Illustrated invoices, receipts, envelopes, statements, order forms, and business stationery.

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Catalogs and Price Lists

Wholesale, industrial, farm, retail, mail-order, patent medicine, hardware, and manufacturer catalogs.

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Almanacs and Booklets

Patent medicine almanacs, recipe books, farm guides, premiums, advice books, and product literature.

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Pocket Mirrors

Celluloid and metal-backed mirrors for medicines, beauty products, merchants, insurance, and political campaigns.

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Thermometers and Clocks

Store thermometers, wall clocks, regulators, novelty clocks, and branded instruments.

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Fans, Rulers, and Blotters

Useful paper and wood premiums from banks, funeral homes, druggists, seed dealers, and merchants.

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Salesman Samples

Miniature packages, sample tins, sample books, demonstration pieces, and traveling sales kits.

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