The D’Arcy Collection of the Communications Library of the University of Illinois is a collection of almost one million original advertisements published between 1890 and 1970. The collection, which was donated by the D’Arcy, MacManus & Masius advertising agency (now D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles) in 1983, is a rich source of research information on products advertised by many agencies. While the vast majority of these advertisements appeared in newspapers, magazines and trade journals, there are a few in other forms such as brochures, signs, and programs. Most of the clippings advertise standard consumer products, but there are a number of obsolete categories such as spats, bathing shoes, and Prohibition. Included also are ads from organizational and governmental advertisers such as the American Red Cross, New York City’s Lincoln Center, and NATO.

The Woodward Collection of Advertising, is also the World's largest with approximately 4 million ads. It was donated in 1989 by Garry Woodward, a Chicago businessman. It is similar to the D'Arcy collection but much more comprehensive. It is contained in approximately 1,000 filing cabinet drawers and boxes. The collection includes ads from the late 1800's through the 1980's.

The Advertising Council was formed in 1941 to use advertising to promote the public good. The advent of World War II accelerated the Council's growth, due to the increased need for public service messages to benefit the war effort. You can contact the University Archives for information on this collection.

Ads of the World, a part of the Clio Network, provides creative databases and curated collections from advertising partners.

The Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions 2.0 (ROAD 2.0) project comprises images related to outdoor advertising from the twentieth century. It originated as a metadata-only database in 2003, funded by an grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Later, using a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), Duke University Libraries digitized many of the images described in the original database.

The Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund, presents images and information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II, providing a coherent view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in one particular advertising collection available at Duke University.

The AdViews digital collection provides access to thousands of historic commercials created for clients or acquired by the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B) advertising agency or its predecessor during the 1950s - 1980s. All of the commercials held in the DMB&B Archives will be digitized, allowing students and researchers access to a wide range of vintage brand advertising from the first four decades of mainstream commercial television. AdViews is a collaborative project between the Digital Collections Program and the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, as well as a number of other groups, at Duke University.

This collection explores the complex relationships between modern medicine and modern advertising, or "Madison Avenue," as the latter is colloquially termed. It presents images and information for approximately 600 health-related advertisements printed in newspapers and magazines. These ads illustrate the variety and evolution of marketing images from the 1910s through the 1950s. The collection represents a wide range of products such as cough and cold remedies, laxatives and indigestion aids, and vitamins and tonics, among others. The majority of images in MMA are from the "Competitive Advertisements Collection" (Pre-1955 files) within the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives.

This collection presents over 3,300 items relating to the early history of advertising in the United States. The materials, drawn from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University, provide a significant and informative perspective on the early evolution of this most ubiquitous feature of modern American business and culture. The project was made possible by grant funding to Duke University from the 1998 Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition.

The Advertising Archives was established in 1990 by Larry and Suzanne Viner and is the largest and most comprehensive resource of its kind in Europe. This collection spans the years from the mid 19th Century to the present day. Image types include: British and American press adverts; British and American magazine covers; rare French and Spanish magazine art; Mail order catalogues; posters, postcards, menus, theater programs, and other ephemera; and vintage magazines.