Little Sandpiper, from the Game Birds series (N13) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (3.8 x 7 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
63.350.201.13.28
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of 19th-century advertising with *Little Sandpiper*, a delightful chromolithograph from Allen & Ginter's Game Birds series (N13), issued in 1889. These petite cards—measuring just 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches—were tucked into packs of Allen & Ginter cigarettes, transforming everyday tobacco purchases into a hunt for collectible treasures. Produced by pioneering Philadelphia lithographers George S. Harris & Sons, the series celebrated North American game birds, blending natural history with clever marketing to captivate smokers and children alike during the Gilded Age's tr...
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...