M.H. de Young, San Francisco Chronicle, from the American Editors series (N1) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
1887
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
63.350.201.1.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, Allen & Ginter, a American tobacco company, revolutionized marketing with collectible trading cards inserted into cigarette packs. This vibrant chromolithograph, titled *M.H. de Young, San Francisco Chronicle*, is from their 1887 "American Editors" (N1). Measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, captures the likeness of Michael Henry de Young, the dynamic founder and publisher of the *San Francisco Chronicle*. As a prominent figure in the burgeoning newspaper industry, de Young's portrait celebrates the era's influential editors who shaped public opinion amid America's Gilded Ag...
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...