Chickadee, from the Birds of America series (N37) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888
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
63.350.202.37.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1888 color lithograph of a chickadee belongs to Allen & Ginter’s “Birds of America” series (N37), a set of small cards inserted into cigarette packages. Measuring just under three by three-and-a-quarter inches, the print was designed as an attractive giveaway that encouraged customers to collect the full suite of native species. The company, a leading tobacco manufacturer of the era, used the series to blend advertising with popular interest in natural history. Color lithography allowed the image to be reproduced quickly and affordably in bright, clear hues, making detailed bird...
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...