William Penn Nixon, The Chicago Daily Inter-Ocean, from the American Editors series (N1) 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
63.350.201.1.34
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant chromolithograph from 1887 captures William Penn Nixon, a prominent editor of *The Chicago Daily Inter-O*, as part of Allen & Ginter's "American Editors" series (N1). Produced as a collectible insert for their cigarette packs, the diminutive card (just 2¾ x 1½ inches) exemplifies the era's innovative marketing, blending portraiture with commerce to appeal to smokers and collectors alike. Allen & Ginter, pioneers in the tobacco industry, revolutionized advertising through these colorful lithographs, which used multiple stone plates to achieve rich, layered hues unattainable by ear...
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...