Free to Use and Reuse: Advertising Food

Large and small, printed and handwritten—all kinds of signs advertise food. The shape of a building, a display of cans, and the smile of a street vendor also encourage food choices. Which of the following images would persuade you to take a second look at the fruit, vegetables, meats, and other fare available from the 1880s to present day? Browse more content that is free to use and reuse

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  Food--don't waste it. World War I poster by Frederic Cooper, 1917. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Southern fish vendor, Augusta, Georgia. Photo by Detroit Publishing Co., 1903. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Silver Dragon Restaurant sign, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Photo by John Margolies, 1987. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Nathan's Hot Dogs from boardwalk, Coney Island, New York. Photo by Al Ravenna, 1954. New York World, Telegram & Sun Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Snider's Catsup. Poster, 1900. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Get fat on Lorings Fat-ten-u and corpula foods. Poster, 1895. Prints & Photographs Division

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  A New Orleans milk cart, New Orleans, La. Photo by Detroit Publishing Co., 1903. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Mulberry Street, New York City. Photo by Detroit Publishing Co., approximately 1900. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Baker standing in front of the "American Bakery" which displays signs in Armenian, Ladino (in Hebrew characters), English, Ottoman Turkish, Greek and Russian with samples of bread attached to the mullions, Istanbul, Turkey. Photograph, 1922. Carpenter Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Tom's Grocery, Duval Street, Key West, Florida. Photo by John Margolies, 1985. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Save the products of the land--Eat more fish-they feed themselves United States Food Administration. World War I poster by Charles L. Bull, 1917-1918. Prints & Photographs Division

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  Trout Haven billboard, Route 385, We fry ̉Route 385, Black Hills, South Dakota. Photo by John Margolies, 1990. Prints & Photographs Division

• New York, New York. Sign on front of a motor truck. Photo by Gordon Parks, 1943. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Washington, D.C. Mr. J. Benjamin's daughter waiting on a customer in her father's store. Photo by Gordon Parks, 1942. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Washington, D.C. Grocery store owned by Mr. J. Benjamin, on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Gordon Parks, 1942. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Distinctive ice cream at the Computer Museum and Children's Museum, Boston, Massachusetts. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, approximately 2000. Prints & Photographs Division

• Corn-cob-shaped, and designed, water tower at the Olmsted County Fairgrounds in Rochester, Minnesota. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, 2019. Prints & Photographs Division

• Roadside stand near Birmingham, Alabama. Photo by Walker Evans, 1936. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• General store interior. Moundville, Alabama. Photo by Walker Evans, 1936. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Fruit sign. Beaufort, South Carolina. Photo by Walker Evans, 1936. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Grand Grocery Co., Lincoln, Nebraska. Photo by John Vachon, 1942. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Small Mexican grocery store. San Antonio, Texas. Photo by Russell Lee, 1939. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Canned meat and canned fish. All of these are rationed. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer, 1943. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. At the produce market. Photo by Jack Delano, 1942. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Advertisements for Maine potatoes used as decorations during the barrel rolling contest in Presque Isle, Maine. Photo by Jack Delano, 1940. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Cafe ice cream sign, Galena, Kansas. Photo by John Margolies, 1979. Prints & Photographs Division

• Hobo Joe's BBQ 7 antiques sign, Route 71, Springdale, Arkansas. Photo by John Margolies, 1984. Prints & Photographs Division

• Sign on roadside, Delta County, Colorado. Photo by Russell Lee, 1940. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mennonite farmer's wife at her stall in the central market. Photo by Marjorie Collins, 1942. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Jersey tomatoes at The Corn Stop Farmer's Market in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017. Prints & Photographs Division

• Saleswoman handing out peppermint flavored Beech-Nut Gum on street. Photo by Anthony Rizzuto, 1957. Prints & Photographs Division

• King of Pizza. Photo by Anthony Rizzuto, 1957. Prints & Photographs Division

• Food vendor selling fresh pretzels. Photo by Anthony Rizzuto, 1957. Prints & Photographs Division

• Women cleaning popcorn wagon, Taylor, Texas. Photo by Russell Lee, 1939. Prints & Photographs Division

• Little boy buying hamburger, state fair, Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Photo by Russell Lee, 1938. Farm Security Administration. Prints & Photographs Division.

• The Donut Hole, La Puente, California. Photo by John Margolies, 1991. Prints & Photographs Division

• Cheese Market, Provincetown, Massachusetts. Photo by John Margolies, 1984. Prints & Photographs Division

• Pete's Meat Market, El Paso, Texas. Photo by John Margolies, 1979. Prints & Photographs Division

• Two Stiffs Selling Gas sign, Lovelock, Nevada. Photo by John Margolies, 1991. Prints & Photographs Division

• The "super market" in Durham, North Carolina, Photo by Jack Delano, 1940. Farm Security Administration Collection. Prints & Photographs Division

• Interior grocery area, ... Honoluu Store & Warehouse, 502 Office Street, Kapalua, Maui County, HI. Photo by David Franzen, 2006. Historic American Buildings Survey. Prints & Photographs Division

• Rohe & Bro. Advertistement, about 1900. Prints & Photographs Division

• Trademark registration by J. H. Brookmire & Co. for Eagle Brand Fresh Oysters, Lobsters, and Fish. 1888. Prints & Photographs Division

• Lloyd J. Harriss Pies. (George Washington crossing a river of cherry pies.) Poster, 1947. Prints & Photographs Division