Harrison, from the Great Generals series (N15) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
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
63.350.201.15.19
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Harrison, from the Great Generals seriesN15)*, a diminutive commercial color lithograph by Allen & Ginter collaboration with George S. & Sons in 1888. Measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, this tiny card was designed as an insert for cigarette packs, part of a popular series celebrating American military heroes. Allen & Ginter, pioneers of the trading card phenomenon, used these ephemera to boost brand loyalty, enticing smokers with collectible portraits amid the post-Civil War fascination with generals. The subject, likely Civil War vete...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
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...