Cuba, from Flags of All Nations, Series 1 (N9) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
1887
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
63.350.201.9.16
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Cuba, from Flags of All Nations, Series 1 (N9)*, a diminutive chromolithograph produced by the pioneering tobacco firm Allen & G in 1887. just 2¾ x 1½ inches, card was designed as a collectible insert for cigarette packs, part of a popular series showcasing international flags. At a time when smoking was a gentlemanly pastime, companies like Allen & Ginter marketing by bundling these colorful ephemera with their products, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts worldwide. The medium—commercial color lithography—allowed for st...
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...