William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising & Design, Advertising museum in Historic Third Ward, Milwaukee, United States.
The William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design sits in a Renaissance Revival building from 1895 in the Historic Third Ward. The exhibitions document the evolution of advertising materials across various media, from printed ads to modern digital formats.
The museum was founded in 2000 and expanded its collections in 2004 by acquiring materials from the American Advertising Museum in Portland. The founding was inspired by William F. Eisner's lifelong passion for design history, which shaped his work across decades.
The collection shows how advertising shaped people's perception of products and brands across generations. Visitors can see how the visual language of marketing evolved from early print to digital campaigns.
The museum is located in the heart of the Historic Third Ward and is easily accessible on foot. Visitors should allow time to explore the various exhibitions, as the collections are extensive and cover multiple media types.
The collection houses original advertisements from local brands like Harley-Davidson and historical campaigns like Burma-Shave that achieved cult status in the region. These materials show how regional companies marketed their products and set national trends.
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