Patagonia, from the Natives in Costume series (N16) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1886

This small chromolithograph of a Patagonian native was made for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. These cards, printed using a chemical color process, were included in cigarette packs to stiffen them and encourage collecting. While seemingly innocuous, the card’s materiality speaks volumes about labor, trade, and cultural appropriation. Chromolithography was a mechanized process, capable of reproducing images quickly and cheaply, fuelling mass consumption. The image itself flattens the Patagonian people into a generalized, exotic “type,” furthering the idea that they were objects of curiosity, readily packaged and consumed. The card’s presence in a cigarette pack connects it to tobacco farming, often reliant on exploited labor. Thus, this seemingly simple collectible is deeply intertwined with the mechanics of colonial exploitation and global capitalism, reducing both people and places to commodities. It reminds us to look closely at everyday objects, and to consider the complex forces that shape their making and meaning.