If you’re old enough to remember clip art, you may have invested in some of these too! I’ve got an entire bookshelf full of copyright-free reference archive books. As I divest myself of my worldly junk, I wonder what to do with such book collections! But they are entertaining and interesting to flip through, and the art is highly usable for anyone still in the design or marketing fields. Some of these pieces are beautiful — far more beautiful than you could develop at today’s rates! They also make excellent idea starters! Enjoy!
Advertising Cuts of the 20s and 30s CD-ROM and Book
Busy commercial artists, graphic designers, illustrators and others in search of lively graphics with old-time flavor will welcome this treasury of engaging spot illustrations. It’s particularly good because the CD-ROM containing 765 royalty-free images scanned at 600 dpi and saved in six different formats (TIFF, PICT, EPS, BMP, as well as internet-ready JPEG and GIF). Compiled from publications of the 1920s and ’30s, the treasury of royalty-free illustrations will also appeal to anyone developing a vintage look! 
Advertising Cuts of the 20s and 30s CD-ROM and Book – Dover Electronic Clip Art
Vintage Advertising Art and Design
Here are all the essentials for creating striking ads and other graphic messages with an attention-getting retro look and feel. Drawn from typographic sourcebooks as well as sign-painting manuals of the early twentieth century, this comprehensive volume includes a wealth of borders, frames, images, and typographic elements for re-creating authentic styles of the 1890s–1920s. This is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artists, illustrators, and crafters! Vintage Advertising Art and Design (Dover Pictorial Archives) Paperback
Vintage Commercial Art and Design
If you remember the term “commercial art” then you’ll really appreciate these essential typographic elements for creating ads with a nostalgic flair. Drawn from a pair of sign-painting manuals that were originally published early in the 20th century, this compilation abounds in borders, frames, typography, and a host of other images, all ideal for re-creating authentic styles from the 1890s to the 1920s. Plates from the two source books depict the color and black-and-white images in their original usage, and a CD-ROM includes JPEG files of all the images. Vintage Commercial Art and Design by Frank H. Atkinson and Charles J. Strong
See : Vintage Advertising: the best black & white and color ads from the 1800s to the 1950s See : A Gallery of clip art samples from these books
Thanks for reading… Don’t forget to let us hear about your favorites!
+FredShowker, Editor / Publisher @Showker
Published online since 1988
The original copy of this post is located at http://www.graphic-design.com/vintage_advertising/clip_art/index.html
Fred Showker explores design, graphics, computing, social media, marketing, and the online world with an eye to entertaining, amazing information that will possibly make you think!