Apple, from the Fruits series (N12) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.201.12.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with *Apple, from the Fruits series (12) for Allen & Ginterarettes Brands* (1891). Produced by Allen & Ginter in collaboration with George S. Harris & Sons this petite commercial color lithograph (just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) was designed as a collectible insert for cigarette packs. These cards, part of a popular series featuring fruits and charming girls, captivated smokers and sparked a collecting craze, blending whimsy with marketing genius during the Gilded Age. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge printing technique, brought thi...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...