Old advertising is a fantastic way to peek into the social and business worlds of the past. Usually vibrant, clever, witty and artistically accomplished these works of art were created for one purpose only- to grab your attention and sell ! Early examples were usually painted onto wood, carved out of wood or printed. In 1816 the invention of two-colour lithography meant bright colours could finally be added to printed adverts and posters and then the invention of enamel signs from the 1860s onwards further revolutionised how people publicised their wares around the built environment.
Today antique and vintage advertising is as desirable as ever and looks great displayed on the wall. From hard wearing signs to fragile posters these items add character and are chocked full of the fashions and fads of the day. On a more personal scale business trade cards and labels have remained popular for hundreds of years but during the 19th Century the variety of ways to advertise grew to include far more unusual objects such as mirrors, bottles, match boxes and all manner of novelty items. This continued into the 20th Century to leave us a wealth of fantastic advertising objects.
At Love Antiques we have a fine selection of antique and vintage advertising for all your needs.
D and A Binder LTD
1920s Shop Display Boots
£ 288
Sunnyside Antiques
Advertising Stoneware Bottle
£ 79
IM Chaney Antique Furniture
Great Western Railway Transfer Printed Garter Crest
£ 300
£ 250
Town House Traders Ltd
Vintage Coats Advertising 3 Drawer Sewing Haberdashery Box
£ 120
£ 225
Beau French Boutique
Super Large Reclaimed Neon Sign Letters V & G Industrial Salvage Distressed
£ 365
Super Large Reclaimed Neon Sign Letters V & G Industrial Salvage Distressed
£ 365
Beau French Boutique
Matthew Coles Antiques
Two Full-sized Anatomical Medical Posters
£ 425
B Southgate
Large French Glass Casino Sign
£ 675
Elder Books & Collectables
Coffee House Adverts From 1876 & 1877 for R Thompson, Tea & Coffee Merchants.
£ 150
Coffee House Adverts From 1876 & 1877 for R Thompson, Tea & Coffee Merchants.
£ 150
Elder Books & Collectables
Antiques & Chic
Original American Coca Cola Cool Box, Ice Box
£ 495
Antiques & Chic
Original American Coca Cola in Bottles Vending Machine
£ 2,295
£ 395
£ 150
Mantiques Bazaar
London Transport Slipboard Poster for Earl's Court
£ 20
Richard Twort
Pan American Airways Advertising Barometer
£ 325
£ 475
D and A Binder LTD
1960s Mahogany Shop Sign
£ 216
£ 850
Vavasseur Antiques
Very Large Antique "Zambrene" Wall Barometer c.1910
£ 925
Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD
Enamel London Road Sign City of Westminster Ebury Street Belgravia SW1
£ 850
Enamel London Road Sign City of Westminster Ebury Street Belgravia SW1
£ 850
Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD
Mantiques Bazaar
London Transport Slipboard Poster for Box Hill
£ 20
Deviantik
Victorian Post Office Sign
£ 145
Mantiques Bazaar
London Transport Slipboard Poster for Chartwell
£ 20
Marlborough Antiques & Interiors
England Lithographic Poster by Feliks Topolski
£ 1,250
Whites Antiques
Early 20th Enamel Sign from an Estate
£ 135
Whites Antiques
Original Painted Cart Side Sign
£ 435
Whites Antiques
French Hand Painted Apothecary Sign 1900-1920
£ 550
Marlborough Antiques & Interiors
Bridget Riley Untitled (after Blaze) 1964 Screenprint on Paper
£ 295
Bridget Riley Untitled (after Blaze) 1964 Screenprint on Paper
£ 295
Marlborough Antiques & Interiors
£ 645
The Old Yard
Victorian Framed Advertising Poster
£ 725
Marlborough Antiques & Interiors
Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe Poster 1971
£ 1,000
Elmgarden
Large Iron “Watneys” Pub Lantern
£ 1,250
£ 2,250
Mantiques Bazaar
London Transport Slipboard Poster for Oxford Street
£ 20
£ 800
D and A Binder LTD
Vintage Floro Shop Display
£ 168
Antiques & Chic
Old Enamel Goerz Cameras & Binoculars Advertising Sign
£ 825
Michael Armson Antiques
American Painted Mechanical Coin Bank
£ 110
£ 375
People have been advertising their wares for thousands of years scratching into bricks and painting wooden signs and pottery. However the emergence of the printing press meant that from the 17th Century onwards printed advertising became cheap and easy to produce through newspapers, gazettes, magazines, flyers, and journals. Better quality images through copper plate processes emerged from the mid 18th Century and colour tones began to be printed from the start of the 19th Century. While the approach to advertising has not really changed over the years, the sheer quantity has, in part due to even more mediums emerging such as radio, television and internet.
Most collectors of old advertising are drawn to the works for their own unique reasons, either because of the subject, Era or artwork. Enamel signs and posters are the most popular fields collected due to their variety and versatility. In each case condition and rarity determine the price, but all forms of advertising are collected from labels, cards and signs to far more unusual novelty items.
The first known purpose made advertisements were written onto Papyrus and date to at least 3000 B.C from ancient Egypt. However people will have been scratching their shop or business name on to wood or clay even before that.
In an era when marketing focuses primarily on the future, the purpose of retro advertising art is to transport us back to the past where life is simpler. This type of advertising tells us about the fashions, fads and innovations from years gone by. If we were alive at that time it can remind us of who we were at the time, and if the advert is older than us we can still be transported in our mind to that other era.