H. Lippershey, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888
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
63.350.202.25.27
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this petite commercial color lithograph, printer's sample from Allen & Ginter's *World's Inventors* album (series A25), produced in 1888. Allen & Ginter, pioneering American tobacco manufacturers, revolutionized marketing by inserting collectible cards into cigarette packs. These tiny treasures—measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches—featured portraits of notable figures, blending education with promotion to captivate smokers and collectors alike. This card honors Hans Lippershey (often spelled H. Lippershey), the Dutch spectacle-maker credit...
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...