Holland, from Flags of All Nations, Series 1 (N9) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1887

This small chromolithograph of the Dutch flag was produced by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes in Richmond, Virginia, as one of a series of collectible cards. What are we to make of this intersection of commerce and national identity? The flag is presented as a symbol of national pride, but it’s also a marketing tool, designed to encourage brand loyalty. It is important to remember that Allen and Ginter were among the first to use colour lithography, thus contributing to the development of the mass media. The company's choice of flags as a subject speaks to the rise of nationalism. Each card in this series features a different nation’s flag, teaching consumers about geography while simultaneously promoting a global vision of trade. To better understand the cultural impact of cigarette cards, we might look to advertising history, the history of print media, and the scholarship that examines the growth of consumer culture in the late 19th century. By bringing different fields of knowledge to bear, we can fully appreciate the image’s historical meaning.