F.W. Dawson, The Charleston News and Courier, from the American Editors series (N1) 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
63.350.201.1.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *F.W. Dawson, The Charleston News and Courier*, gem from Allen & Ginter's *American Editors* series (1), issued in 1887. This petite commercial color lithograph (just 2¾ x 1½ inches) captures the stern portrait of Francis Warrington Dawson, a prominent Southern journalist and editor of the influential *Charleston News and Courier*. Produced as an insert for Allen & Ginter cigarette packs, it celebrates the era's newspaper powerhouses, blending celebrity endorsement with everyday promotion during the Gilded Age. Allen & Gint...
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...