Tennessee, from Flags of the States and Territories (N11) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
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
63.350.201.11.82
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American ephemera with *Tennessee, from Flags of the States and TerritoriesN11)*, a commercial color lithograph produced by Allen & Ginter 1888. This tiny card (just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) was part of a popular series of trading cards inserted into cigarette packs, showcasing state flags to spark patriotism and collecting fervor amid post-Civil War nation-building. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco marketers, used these inserts to boost brand loyalty, blending commerce with civic pride. Crafted via chromolithography—a revolutionary technique layerin...
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...