American White Egret, from the Game Birds series (N13) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands

Art Historical Context

Behold the elegant *American White Egret* Allen & Ginter's *Game Birds* series (N13), a charming 1889 chromolithograph issued as a collectible insert in cigarette packs. Measuring just 1 ½ x 2 ¾ inches, this tiny jewel captures the graceful bird in mid-stride, its plumage rendered with lifelike detail against a subtle natural backdrop. Produced by the skilled lithographers George S. Harris & Sons it exemplifies the golden age of commercial color printing. In the late 19th century, Allen & Ginter pioneered cigarette cards as innovative marketing tools, sparking a collecting craze among adults and children alike. These ephemera—part of over 200 bird-themed cards in the series—celebrated North American wildlife, reflecting Victorian fascination with natural history and ornithology. Chromolithography, a revolutionary technique layering vibrant colors from stone plates, allowed mass production of art-quality images at low cost, bridging fine art and everyday commerce. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this card highlights ephemera's cultural role as affordable education and entertainment. It evokes an era when such pocket-sized prints fueled passions for birds, conservation, and collecting, precursors to modern trading cards. A delightful glimpse into Gilded Age ingenuity!

About the Artist

Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons

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...