New Zealand Parrot, from Birds of the Tropics series (N38) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Behold the vibrant *New Zealand Parrot* the *Birds of Tropics* series (38), a delightful 1889 commercial color lithograph produced by Allen & Ginter collaboration with George S. Harris & Sons Measuring just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, this petite print was designed as a collectible trading card tucked into cigarette packs, enticing smokers with exotic avian imagery during the Gilded Age. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge technique, enabled the mass production of these vivid, multi-layered color prints, capturing the parrot's iridescent feathers with remarkable detail and realism. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco marketers, issued sets like this to build brand loyalty, tapping into Victorian fascination with natural history and distant lands. The New Zealand Parrot—likely a nod to species like the kaka or kea—exemplifies how ephemera bridged commerce and education, popularizing tropical wildlife. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this card highlights the artistry of advertising. Once discarded, such prints are now prized for their historical snapshot of consumer culture and conservation awareness in the late 19th century. A tiny treasure revealing big stories!

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...