Marketing and Advertising History

Weblinks Collection

• 19th Century Advertising *Harper's Weekly Magazine has gathered together a database containing over 40,000 advertisements that appeared from 1857-1871. Users must register to access the full database. Registration is free, however, it requires a static IP address which may be a problem for some.
• Advertising Age Timeline *Illustrated history of advertising from the first newspaper advertisement in 1704 to Internet ads of 1999.
• Encarta - History of Advertising *Brief but insightful article about the evolution of advertising.
• Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising and Marketing History *Contains two excellent online resources, Ad Access and Emergence of Advertising in America, that deal with advertising history. Use search feature or look by category. Provides images, descriptions and timelines.
• History of Marketing Thought *Excerpts from classic marketing text written by Robert Bartels that examines the very roots of marketing. While written on the academic side, it provides insight into early marketing development including marketing research, marketing management as well as early university level courses.
• NewProductWorks *The real value here is not so much the website but in knowing that such a place exists. Located in Ann Arbor, Michigan this is essentially a museum for over 80,000 food, beverage, household and personal care products that have been introduced in the last 40 years. Useful from both an historical perspective and for new product design. However, don't except to be permitted to visit unless you are a potential customer for their consulting services.
• Present at the Creation *National Public Radio series from 2002 that offers audio reports and written material on the origins of a variety of items. Product coverage includes Monopoly, surfboards, Scrabble, Gumby and many more.
• Sears Archives *Good corporate history site of a major US retailer that is generally light on promotion. Unfortunately, the best part of early Sears history, the Sears Catalog, is discussed but does not contain any images which is a major shortfall of this site.