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

This is "Henny Game," a chromolithograph trading card from the Allen & Ginter "Prize and Game Chickens" series. The eye is immediately drawn to the proud stance of the rooster. We see a calculated arrangement of forms and lines, from the rooster's curved tail, to the angularity of the rooftop and fence. There is the contrast between the detailed feathers and the soft focus backdrop. These cards, distributed with cigarettes, were early examples of consumer culture employing images to attach prestige and value to their products. The series elevates what might be considered mundane—chickens—to the realm of art, reflecting broader 19th-century interests in categorizing and ordering the natural world. Note how the texture of the lithograph, with its somewhat coarse dot matrix, functions as a signifier of authenticity and value despite its mass production. The image is less about the chickens themselves and more about the structures of desire and classification. It's a fascinating intersection of commerce, art, and the emerging visual language of consumerism.