Black Head Duck, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888–90
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (7.3 x 8.3 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
63.350.202.40.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising *Black Head Duck* from Allen & Ginter's Game Birds series (N40 a charming chromolithograph produced between 1888 and 1890. Allen & Ginter, pioneering American tobacco manufacturers, popularized insert cards in cigarette packs to boost sales and captivate collectors—especially sportsmen and naturalists drawn to depictions of game birds like this striking duck. Tucked inside packs, these tiny treasures (just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches) turned smoking into a hobby, sparking the trading card craze that endures today. Crafted as a commercial color ...
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...