Louise Montague, The $10,000 Beauty, from World's Beauties, Series 1 (N26) 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
63.350.201.26.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Louise Montague, The $10,000 Beauty a colorful chromolithograph from Allen & Ginter's *World's Beauties, 1 (N26)* cigarette cards. Produced in 1888, this print (just 2¾ x 1½ inches) was tucked into cigarette packs as a promotional insert, sparking a collecting craze among smokers. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco innovators, used these cards to boost brand loyalty, blending commerce with celebrity allure by featuring real women celebrated for their beauty—here, Louise Montague, whose "$10,000" moniker likely nods to a lavish beauty prize...
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...