From the Girls and Children series (N64) promoting Virginia Brights Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products
1886
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 1 1/2 in. (6.7 × 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
63.350.202.64.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming chromolithograph from Allen & Ginter's "Girls and Children" seriesN64) is a vivid example of 1880s advertising ingenuity. Produced in 1886 to promote Virginia Brights Cigarettes it measures just 2⅝ × 1½ inches, designed as a collectible trade card inserted into cigarette packs. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco magnates, revolutionized marketing by pairing their products with these colorful inserts, sparking a collecting craze among Americans of all ages. The medium—commercial color lithography—marked a breakthrough in mass-produced graphics. This technique layered vibrant inks...
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...