The Record Institute
World Archive Map
Global Institutions Preserving Vintage Print Advertising
Why do the world’s most prestigious institutions dedicate immense resources to preserving commercial paper?
Because vintage print advertising is not disposable ephemera. It is primary historical evidence—a definitive, frozen record of how cultures communicated, consumed, and dreamed.
Archive Directory
Global institutions preserving vintage print advertising
North America
Smithsonian NMAH
Washington D.C., USA · 1879–1999
American advertising, AT&T, DeBeers, GM
Houses the N.W. Ayer Advertising Agency Records — one of the most comprehensive collections of American commercial print history.
Duke University Hartman Center
Durham, NC, USA · 1910s–1980s
J. Walter Thompson, Kraft, Kodak
Over 44,000 items documenting the golden age of American advertising agencies.
Library of Congress
Washington D.C., USA · 1909–1990s
Philip Morris archive, Coca-Cola
Over 55,000 advertising images preserved as federal historical record.
Henry Ford Museum
Dearborn, MI, USA · 1900s–1960s
Automotive advertising, American industry
Preserves the visual language of American industrial progress.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
New York City, NY, USA · 1860s–1963
Trade cards, ephemera
Houses the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, an archive of over 303,000 pieces of commercial ephemera.
Europe
History of Advertising Trust (HAT)
Norwich, UK · 1800s–present
British advertising, ephemera
The largest collection of British advertising history in the world.
The Advertising Archives
London, UK · 1850s–present
British & American magazine ads
Europe’s most comprehensive resource for vintage advertisements.
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, UK · 1960s–1980s
Paper ephemera, commercial design
World-class collection of commercial art and paper ephemera.
Museum of Brands
London, UK · 1800s–present
Consumer culture, packaging
A journey through over 200 years of consumer culture and vintage prints.
Museum of Advertising (Castello di Rivoli)
Turin, Italy · 1930s–1980s
Italian commercial art, vintage posters
Archives the golden age of Italian advertising inside a historic castle.
Bodleian Libraries
Oxford, UK · 1750s–1930s
Printed ephemera, trade cards
Houses the John Johnson Collection, preserving fragile, everyday commercial prints.
Asia
Ad Museum Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan · 1603–present
Japanese advertising, woodblock prints
The only museum in Japan dedicated entirely to advertising history.