Clapper Rail, 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
63.350.202.40.16
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American ephemera with *Clapper Rail* from Allen & Ginter's * Birds* series (N), a commercial color lithograph produced between 1888 and 1890. This petite card, measuring just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, captures the-dwelling clapper rail—a secretive, reddish-brown bird known for its distinctive clattering call—in exquisite detail. Issued as inserts in Allen & Ginter cigarette packs, these cards were pioneering collectibles, blending natural history illustration with clever marketing to appeal to smokers and bird enthusiasts alike. The artwork showcases t...
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...