Rail, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888–90
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (7.3 x 8.3 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
63.350.202.40.37
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Rail, from the Game Birds series (N40)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by the tobacco company Allen & Ginter around 1888–90. This petite card, measuring just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, captures the sleek form of the rail—a secretive marsh bird prized by hunters—in vivid detail. Part of a popular series featuring game birds, it was designed as a collectible insert in cigarette packs, blending natural history illustration with clever marketing. Allen & Ginter pioneered these trading cards in the 1880s, transforming every...
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...