La Flèche Hen, from the Prize and Game Chickens series (N20) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1891

This chromolithograph of a 'La Flèche Hen' comes from a series of collectible cards included in Allen & Ginter Cigarettes packs in the United States. The series featured prize-winning and game chickens, reflecting a growing late-nineteenth-century interest in animal husbandry and leisure activities. These cards reveal how commercial imagery participates in the construction of cultural hierarchies. The detailed depiction and careful classification of different chicken breeds speaks to the rise of specialized knowledge, and the popularization of scientific approaches to nature through the channels of commerce. What does it mean to present a hen, a barnyard animal, as a prized specimen? These images reflect not only the economic interests of tobacco companies, but also broader cultural values concerning the relationship between humans and the natural world. Understanding this ephemeral artifact requires us to explore a range of historical sources, from agricultural journals to advertising ephemera, to reconstruct the complex web of social meanings it once possessed.