Card 851, Lizzie Webster, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
ca. 1888
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (7 x 3.5 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.203.45.1002
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century celebrity culture with *Card 851, Lizzie Webster*, from Allen & Ginter's Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2), issued around 1888 to promote Virginia Brights Cigarettes. This petite albumen photograph captures the poised portrait of actress Lizzie Webster, one of many performers immortalized in these collectible trading cards tucked inside cigarette packs. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco entrepreneurs, revolutionized marketing by blending photography with ephemera, turning everyday smokers into avid collectors of theater stars. The albumen's...
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...