Bavarian Postillion, from World's Smokers series (N33) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888
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
63.350.202.33.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Bavarian Postillion a charming card from Allen & Ginter's *World's Smokers* seriesN33), issued in 1888. Produced by pioneering American tobacco company, this petite commercial color lithograph (2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in.) captures a dapper Bavarian postillion—a mounted mail carrier—pipe in hand, evoking the romantic allure of European travel and tradition. Part of a popular set distributed in cigarette packs, these cards celebrated global smoking customs, blending exoticism with everyday promotion. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough ...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter
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...