While the Chicago Manual does not provide precise guidelines for citations citing historical advertisements, their guidelines can be adapted for different types of sources.
Examples for citations for historical advertisements
Example format
Company name. "Title of Ad." Format. Title of publication that ad appeared in, date. Source, Collection. URL.
Examples for different types of sources
Pluko. "Pluko will Straighten Your Hair. Try it Today!" Advertisment. New York Amsterdam News, April 16, 1930. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
American Airlines Incorporated. "He Commands Your Flagship and Your Confidence." Advertisement. Life, 1949. From Duke University Libraries Ad*Access. https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4t14v72t.
Some tips to keep in mind:
- The citation should provide some historical context about the ad. Where and when did it originally appear? What was it advertising?
- The citation should provide context about where the student find the citation. An ad may have been published in 1949 in Life, but where did you find the ad? Including information about the digital archive you used, such as Ad*Access, will allow the reader to locate the ad if necessary.
- You won't always be able to find every piece of citation information, but try to include as much information as possible to provide context for the reader.
- If an ad doesn't provide an exact date, you can use the no date abbreviation (n.d.). This abbreviation could be followed by an estimated date.
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