Society Actor, from World's Dudes series (N31) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This small chromolithograph card, titled "Society Actor," was made by Allen & Ginter, a cigarette company based in Richmond, Virginia. Chromolithography, a color printing technique, allowed for mass production of images like this. The card's surface is covered in tiny, discrete dots of color, giving it a soft, almost fuzzy texture. This was achieved by using multiple lithographic stones, each inked with a different color, and carefully aligned to create the final image. The choice of this printing method is significant, reflecting the rise of consumer culture and mass media in the late 19th century. Cigarette cards like this were essentially miniature advertisements, packaged with tobacco products to entice customers. They were cheap to produce, yet highly collectible. So while this card might seem like a simple image, it's actually a complex artifact that speaks to the power of industry and the changing landscape of art and commerce. The means of its production highlights how the distinctions between fine art and everyday ephemera began to blur.