Colorado, from Flags of the States and Territories (N11) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
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
63.350.201.11.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Colorado, from Flags of the States and (N11)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by Allen & Ginter 1888. This card (just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) was one of many inserts tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among smokers and families alike. Issued just over a decade after Colorado'shood in 1876, it proudly showcases the state's flag or coat of arms, the young Rocky Mountain gem amid post-Civil War national expansion and patriotism. Chromolithography, the innovative printing technique here, al...
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...