Vintage Store Advertisements
These free ephemera sheets are made up of images from a printer’s sample book of show cards from the early 1900s. Show cards were display advertising used in retail stores. These particular cards appear to be for a menswear store or menswear department of a store. I made up these printables months ago, but then it occurred to me that there are a lot of mentions of “Fall,” so I thought I’d wait and post them now as we enter the fall season.
Also, make sure you visit the ephemera section of my library of free printables. You may like these Victorian magic props catalog ephemera sheets or these vintage shop fixtures ephemera sheets and others.
Scroll down, and you’ll find five different ephemera sheets with a mixture of images.
Show cards used in clothing stores during the early 1900s were instrumental tools in advertising and merchandising strategies. As I mentioned earlier, these images were just from a printer’s book of samples, but the actual cards were typically handcrafted or printed on durable paper or cardstock. They displayed essential information about clothing items, sales promotions, and store branding. The cards featured exquisite handcrafted designs, often showcasing elegant and ornate typography, decorative borders, and hand-painted illustrations, lending an air of sophistication to the store's presentation.
Calligraphy and typography played a pivotal role, with intricate lettering styles and decorative fonts being commonly used to convey a sense of style and luxury. The artistry of these cards extended to illustrations that highlighted clothing items at their best, featuring models wearing the garments, fabric patterns, or artistic renditions of the apparel.
In addition to promoting individual items, show cards served as brand reinforcement, incorporating store logos, emblematic motifs, and design elements consistent with the store's overall branding. Their strategic placement throughout the store, from window displays to clothing racks and checkout counters, ensured they caught the eye of shoppers, enticing them to explore the clothing offerings.
Artistic embellishments were not uncommon, with embossing, foil stamping, or metallic inks adding visual appeal and a touch of luxury. These show cards were, in essence, pieces of art in their own right. They mirrored the fashion trends of the era, aligning their design and style with the Edwardian fashion prevalent at the time.
Show cards of the early 1900s were not merely utilitarian; they were an integral part of the shopping experience, contributing to marketing efforts, reinforcing brand identity, and creating an aesthetically pleasing ambiance within clothing stores.
Add this free vintage ephemera to your supplies for art journaling, junk journaling, bullet journaling, collage, artist trading cards (ATCs), scrapbooking and other mixed media artwork and crafts.
You may also enjoy these free collage sheets.
Terms of use:
Free to use for personal or commercial projects. You may print the collage sheets as many times as you wish for your personal crafts or in your projects to sell, including: art journals, scrapbooks, junk journals, collage art, etc. You may not redistribute or sell the collage sheets “as is" in either print or digital form.
If you wish to share the files on your own website, please do not make the files available for download directly from your site. Instead, include an image with a link back to this site.
To the best of my knowledge, these are all royalty free images that are in the Public Domain in the US. However, you should always do your own research if you plan to use them commercially.
