Kathryn Kidder, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
ca. 1888
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (6.6 x 3.8 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
63.350.203.45.1345
Tags
Art Historical Context
This small albumen photograph captures actress Kathryn Kidder as part of Allen & Ginter’s Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8), issued around 1888 to promote Virginia Brights Cig. Produced by the Richmond-based tobacco firm, the card belongs to a popular set of celebrity portraits distributed inside cigarette packages, turning everyday purchases into opportunities for collecting. Albumen prints, the dominant photographic medium of the late nineteenth century, allowed for crisp detail on thin paper stock ideally suited to these miniature formats measuring just 2⅝ by 1½ inches. The work’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...