Fridano, Spain, from the Famous Ships series (N50) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
1895
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (3.8 x 6.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.203.50.42
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the world of 19th-centuryhemera with *Fridano, Spain*, a gem from Allen & Ginter's Famous series (N50), produced in 1895 to promote Virginia Brights Cig. This petite albumen photograph, measuring just 1 1/2 x 2 5/8 inches, captures the majestic Spanish vessel *Fridano* in detail. Allen & Ginter, pioneering American tobacco manufacturers, popularized chromolithographed trading cards inserted into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts worldwide. The albumen process, using egg whites to bind light-sensitive chemicals to paper, delivered the sharp clarity and wa...
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...