Mary Anderson, from the Actresses and Celebrities series (N60, Type 1) promoting Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products
1887
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/8 × 1 1/2 in. (6 × 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
63.350.202.60.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming albumen photograph from 1887 captures Mary Anderson, a celebrated American actress known for her Shakespearean roles, as part of Allen & Ginter's Actresses and Celebrities seriesN60, Type 1). Produced by the innovative tobacco company, this tiny card—measuring just 2 3/8 × 1 1/2 inches—was designed to promote Little Beauties Cigarettes Albumen prints, made with egg-white sensitized paper, were prized for their sharp detail and warm tones, making them ideal for mass-produced collectibles tucked into cigarette packs. These trade cards marked a golden age of 19th-century advertisin...
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...