Society Actor, from World's Dudes series (N31) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888
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
63.350.202.31.29
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Society Actor*, a charming chromolithograph from Allen & Ginter's *World's Dudes* (N31). Issued in 1888, this petite print (just 2¾ x 1½ inches) captures a dapper male performer, emblematic of the era's with theater stars and fashionable "dudes"—stylish urban men who embodied modern masculinity. As part of a popular cigarette insert series, it invited collectors to amass sets, turning everyday tobacco purchases into a hobby. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco magnates, revolutionized marketing with these colorful trade cards, blending com...
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...