The Business & Media Archives Collection has over 6,000 digital images indexed in its database. They are searchable by name, date and subject and cover 1930-1990’s. Included are photos of employees and station renovations, news photos and area landmarks including downtown Youngstown and Idora Park.
Also in the archive are advertising illustrations. Historians and scholars have recently taken a closer look at advertisements and studying them as clues to the social, political and economical environments that produced them.
The concept of advertising pre-dates the United States, and can be traced to early sign boards and actors persuading passersby to attend theatre productions in Europe. Early advertisements in colonial America were mostly about goods on hand, but also promoted slave sales and notices of escaped slaves. In the 1880’s as industry and mass produced products emerged, advertising sought to find and persuade buyers.
In the 1920’s advertising became increasing important in the consumer driven economy and new media such as magazines, movies and radio broadcasting provided a new way for advertisements to reach the consumer.
Advertising has continued to evolve since the 1920’s. New concepts and even more media outlets created a “Creative Revolution” in the 1960’s and advertising is now a targeted, segmented, branded multi-billion dollar industry.