This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
Aleph Number:
Selected items from this collection have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
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[Identification of item], Outdoor Advertising Association of America Slide Library, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America Slide Library was transferred to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1996.
Processing of this collection was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
There was already some arrangement to the collection when it came to Duke University, and this is reflected in the choice of series maintained. The
The collection contains a few negatives and loose transparencies, especially in the
Processed by Lisa C. Chandek-Stark and Lynn Pritcher.
Completed April 2002
Encoded by Lisa C. Chandek-Stark
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America Slide Library was
created by officials in the
The
The images, designed to attract mass audiences, depict part of
American society's history - a history of consumer attitudes and desires. The
collection is therefore a valuable tool in formulating not only a pictorial
development of the
In contrast to other types of
Within the
The first three series make up the bulk of the collection: the
Several additional small series contain images of related content,
providing support and context to the
The most direct route to locate any identified ad is through the
For more contextual information, use this collection in conjunction with the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Records, especially that collection's Physical Structure Series, and Photographs, Slides, and Negatives Series. Closely related collections in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library include the John Brennan Outdoor Advertising Survey Reports, the John Paver Papers, the John Browning Papers, the Duplex Advertising Co. Records, the H.E. Fisk Collection of War Effort Mobilization Campaigns, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Records, the Outdoor Advertising Poster Design Collection, the Garrett Orr Papers, the R.C. Maxwell Company Records, the Howard Scott Papers, and the Strobridge Lithographing Company Advertisements.
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
These
The competition has been known by a variety of names in the collection including the
While a sizable series, only a relatively small portion of many decades of national competition nominees are represented here. It has not been determined with certainty whether the outdoor industry sponsored any awards from 1973 to 1982, but the OBIE award was not awarded during that time. This may explain most of the gap in slides from 1969 through 1982. Some transparencies also are included in this series. Labeled yellow slips were found attached to original slide sleeves, perhaps referring to slides removed at one point. Information on these slips was transferred to acid-free paper and clipped to the new archival sleeve. Some images are marked as being winners in a particular category, but most slides or sleeves have no such marking. Old notebook designations (A-1, A-2...) were maintained on the slide sleeves. Old notebooks were listed in the preliminary boxlist as follows: A-1: 33rd-35th National Competition (1965-1967); A-2: 1984; A-3: 1984; A-4: 1985; A-5: 1985; A-6: 1986; A-7: 1986; A-8: 1986; A-9: 1987; A-10: 1987; A-11: 1987; A-12: Various Designs and Awards. Hard copies of old boxlists may be found in this repository's inventory drawers.
Slides are arranged by award competition dates and were numbered in that order, all with the prefix "SLA." In this series only, slides inserted after most had already been numbered were assigned a number with an alphabetical suffix so all slides following would not have to be renumbered.
Selected items from this series have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
The Chronological Series slides ("SLD" and "SLG" slides) are
roughly in chronological order within each box. The earlier images have a
higher concentration of
The Topical Series is the largest group of advertisement slides in
the collection and is organized by product or service type. It has been
maintained in two separate but similar subseries, the second being the larger
of the two. To provide meaningful organizational categories for sometimes vague
products, issues, and services, each category within each subseries is in
effect one of three things, (1) a product type (food, cars, etc.), (2) a
sponsoring organization (armed forces, liquor stores, etc.), or (3) an ad type
(public service, political ads, etc.). Read through the entire list to target a
search before browsing through boxes.
The first subseries (Subseries I, "SLP" and "SLQ" slides) is
roughly organized into groups according to product types listed below. Some of
the
These slides were grouped into industry standard categories. Please see category descriptions at the end of this document to facilitate your search. Often, like materials are further grouped within these categories. For ads where identity of the product was unclear, a small
Presumably, some of the ads in this series ("SLM" slides) were submitted for an International category of the OBIE awards program, a category added in more recent years. They are often in a smaller poster format to accommodate larger pedestrian audiences abroad. Some products featured include alcoholic beverages, concerts, cheese, travel, London transportation, beverages, museum exhibitions, festivals, ice cream, newspapers, and the Moscow Olympics. The slides are arranged by slide number.
Selected items from this series have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
This small series ("SLE" slides) provides perhaps the most context for the creative process. More than just the finished product, these slide images show ads at every stage of creation from idea boards to finishing touches. Most slides show images of people working on billboards, but there are also graphics showing billboard dimensions or various billboard types, photo images of workrooms, workers at worktables, workers with equipment doing actual construction, cranes hanging large billboard segments, photos of props used to put together an image, shots of billboards at various stages of completion, close shots of trim pieces, and more. The slides are arranged by slide number.
Selected items from this series have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
This series contains slide images of original artwork ("SLF"
slides), usually not in any advertisement format. Artwork was sometimes
submitted to OAAA as part of the OBIE Awards program. Many of these slides are
labeled with the artist's name such as graphic artist and painter,
Selected items from this series have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
This series ("SLH" slides) contains slides with images of street scenes, often showing long approaches to billboard sites. There are examples of outdoor advertising present, but views are from a distance. These images were used in planning and preparation for construction or to show sites to prospective clients. This series reveals the most outdoor context of time and place for the advertising. While most shots in other series are close-ups of billboards, these photo images almost always show a wider scene. Slides are arranged by slide number.
This small series ("SLN" slides) contains slides with images that
did not easily fit into other categories. It includes slides of the 1975
This series contains slides organized for individual
Included are some historical images from the early days of outdoor
advertising, but the series mostly contains mid to late 20th century images
including
Selected items from this series have been digitized and are available in:
Items from this series have been described in a searchable online database:
This presentation is aimed at new creative directors and
discusses among other things what makes a good design and how to sell it.
This presentation seems designed to sell the medium to
potential advertisers.
This presentation features slides of a campaign that tested awareness. The industry used ads with Miss America's name (Shirley Cothran) and subsequent testing as proof of outdoor advertising effectiveness.
These slides are encased in glass. Most appear to be a part of a
presentation by
Though seemingly well-defined on paper, the fluidity of these categories becomes obvious when facing thousands of diverse and often vague advertisements. If an initial search in one category does not bear fruit, try a related category. The best way to find any particular advertisement is via the
This category includes ads for the following:
Generally, advertisements for hotels, resorts, national parks, and
whole geographic areas ("See Florida!") as tourist destinations were placed in
Transportation and Travel (T and T), but there is overlap with T and T. Look in
both categories for a comprehensive search. Products in the Amusement and
Entertainment category are generally final destinations, as opposed to means of
travel. Most
This category includes ads for the following:
If searching for a particular apparel brand name, search this category along with "Retail," as it was often difficult to tell if a name on a billboard referred to a brand of clothing or an entire clothing store. Zippers were usually placed in the Consumer Goods category. Ads for watches may be found in Apparel or Consumer Goods and Services.
This category includes ads for the following:
This category includes advertisements for almost anything related to cars, except gasoline. Auto parts stores are usually included here, not under Retail. Gasoline and gas stations were placed under Transportation and Travel (T and T). Ads showing both motor oil and gasoline (and/or car service) were put in the category of the item most prominent. A search for all gas stations should be completed in both this category and T and T. Often an ad advertised both car products and gasoline, or just the brand name was presented (Texaco - provides oil, gas, and car service). Sometimes it was unclear whether an ad was for an automotive or a household radiator and so both the Automotive and Consumer Goods and Services categories should be checked for those items. To search for a particular car dealer, look through subgroups of that dealer?s manufacturer within this category.
This category includes ads for the following:
This category includes ads for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages including mixers, coffee, buttermilk, and milk. Evaporated milk is most often found in the Food and Restaurants category. For a comprehensive search of all beverages, also check the Food and Restaurants category.
This category includes ads for the following:
General office supplies usually went into the Consumer Goods and Services category. Flooring and wallpaper (as well as other items used both by builders and average consumers) should be searched both in this category and in Consumer Goods and Services. Ads for lotteries can usually be found within the Amusement and Entertainment category. Car dealer financing is usually found in the Automotive category. Outdoor advertising is usually found in the Media category. Many ads featuring major appliances are without a brand name - these are probably for a utility company and were placed here. For this reason, however, some utility-sponsored ads may also be found in the Consumer Goods category. Search both this category and Consumer Goods for animal feed. Government-sponsored ads can be found in this category but if sponsorship was questionable, ads may have been put into Public Service, Consumer Goods, or some other category according to the nature of the ad. This category contains the largest variety of materials. Check other categories to complete a comprehensive search. Schools were sometimes put into the Public Services category as a non-profit and sometimes placed here.
This category includes ads for the following:
Household products include zippers, most flooring, and wallpaper. Office supplies were placed here but other office products are in Business and Technology. Services were also placed here including funeral homes, and dry cleaners. Cable Service ads can usually be found in the Media category. Search for watches in this and the Apparel category. Cars, motor oil, car-related products, RVs, and motorcycles can be found mostly in the Automotive category. Gasoline can be found in the Transportation and Travel category. Sometimes it was unclear whether an ad was for an automotive or a household radiator and so both the Automotive and Consumer Goods and Services categories should be checked for those items.
This category includes ads for the following:
Gum, pet food, and tobacco products were most often placed in Consumer
Goods and Services, although some may still be found here. Beverages, including
coffee and milk, can usually be found in their own Beverages category.
This category includes ads for the following:
Ads for recordings (albums, CDs, etc.) and books were usually placed in the Consumer Goods and Services category.
This category includes advertising created for a charitable cause or
by a non-profit organization. Government organizations are normally listed
under Business and Technology, but government sponsorship of an ad was often
difficult to discern. Check this category and Business and Technology for a
more comprehensive search.
This category includes ads for the following:
Some ads featuring clothing lines may have been placed here by mistake since it was often difficult to tell whether a name referred to the clothing brand or a store name. Some of these ads also feature an individual product or products carried by the retail store. If the item seemed prominent in the ad, the slide may have been indexed under Consumer Goods or Food and Restaurants. For auto parts store ads, search this category as well as the Automotive category.
This category includes ads for the following:
Since gas stations but not car service are included in this category, search both this and the Automotive category for an ad featuring a company that sold gas and provided auto service. This category also overlaps a great deal with the Amusement and Entertainment category - search both categories for a comprehensive search.