From the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 5) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
ca. 1888
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (7 x 3.5 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
63.350.203.45.888
Tags
Art Historical Context
This petite albumen photograph, part of Allen & Ginter's * and Actresses series (N45, Type 5)* issued around 1888, captures the allure of late 19th-century theater stardom. Produced as a promotional insert for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, it exemplifies the era's cigarette cards—tiny collectibles (just 2¾ x 1⅜ inches) that turned everyday smokes into treasures for enthusiasts. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco innovators, flooded the market with these vibrant series featuring celebrities, sparking a collecting craze that influenced modern trading cards. The albumen process, using egg-white s...
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...