HarpWeek Presents 19th Century Advertising

From bullet proof vests and artificial legs to sewing machines and insurance, this small sampling of advertisements from the 19th century pages of Harper's Weekly provides a taste of both the times and the development of advertising design. Harper's Weekly was the leading illustrated American magazine from before the Civil War to a few years after its end. HarpWeek, a commercial venture aimed at bringing a digitized version of this primary source material into classrooms as an educational resource, includes a number of free areas of which 19th century advertising is one. Use it to browse through a selection of ads grouped by subject (Civil War products, consumer goods, farm land, retailers, etc.) or other categories. HarpWeek also offers access, via free registration, to an online index of all of the almost 40,000 advertisements that appeared in Harper's Weekly during the 1857-1871 period.