Royal Standard, Great Britain, from Flags of All Nations, Series 1 (N9) 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
63.350.201.9.22
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this petite *Royal Standard, Great Britain*, a commercial color lithograph from Allen & Ginter's *Flags of All Nations, 1 (N9)*, issued in 1887. Measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, this card was tucked into cigarette packs as a collectible premium, sparking a craze for trading cards among smokers and enthusiasts alike. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco innovators, produced these to boost brand loyalty during an era of imperial expansion, when national symbols like Britain's Royal Standard—a bold banner of the three united kingdoms—evoked...
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...