Plate 37, from the Fans of the Period series (N7) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
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
63.350.201.7.37
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Plate 37* from the *Fans of the Period* series (N7), a delightful chromolithograph produced in 1889 by Allen & Ginter in collaboration with Schumacher & Ettlinger. This tiny gem, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, was one of the collectible trading cards tucked into cigarette packs—a clever marketing ploy by the pioneering tobacco company. Part of a series celebrating the elegant fans that defined Victorian fashion, it captures women gracefully wielding these accessories, symbols of refinement, flirtation, and social grace. Chromolitho...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|Schumacher & Ettlinger
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...