American Snake Bird, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *American Snake Bird*, a charming chromolithograph from Allen & Ginter's *Game Birds* series (40), produced between 1888 and 1890. This petite card, measuring just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, depicts the sleek, serpentine form of the Anhinganicknamed the "snake bird" for long neck and snake-like swimming style—perched dramatically amid reeds. Issued as inserts in cigarette packs, these cards were collectibles designed to entice smokers and spark a craze for trading sets featuring North American wildlife. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco magnates, revolutionized marketing with their colorful series, blending education and promotion. Chromolithography, the medium here, allowed for vivid, multi-layered color printing on a mass scale, making high-quality bird illustrations accessible to everyday audiences. This technique captured the bird's iridescent feathers and naturalistic pose with striking realism, appealing to sportsmen, naturalists, and children alike. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera highlights how commercial art democratized natural history imagery, bridging fine art and popular culture in Gilded Age America. A tiny window into a collector's passion and marketing ingenuity!

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...