Marketing in the Modern Era

This online exhibit from the Baker Library at Harvard Business School looks at the trade catalog, one of the most widespread forms of advertising to emerge in the latter half of the 19th century as new advances in printing technology, including mechanization and lithography, simultaneously reduced production costs and improved the visual quality of printed advertising materials. The exhibit features beautiful images from the library's collection of trade catalogs, plus links to other resources and an overview of trade catalogs' role in the broader context of 19th-century American advertising history.