Suabian Peasant, from World's Smokers series (N33) 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
63.350.202.33.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Suabian Peasant* from Allen & Ginter's *'s Smokers* seriesN33), a diminutive chromolithograph produced in 1888. This tiny card, measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, captures a profile view of a traditional Swabian peasant—hailing from the Swabia region of Germany—puffing on his pipe. Allen & Ginter, pioneering American tobacco magnates, issued these cards as inserts in their cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales, turning everyday smokes into treasure hunts. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commercial prin...
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...