American White Egret, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888 - 1890

This is American White Egret, a lithograph advertisement created for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. It’s one of a series, small cards like this were originally included in packs of cigarettes. The material is paper, but its surface is transformed through the printing process. See how detailed the images are, especially the bird’s feathers? This was achieved through lithography, where each color is printed from a separate stone or plate. This commercial technique allowed for mass production, embedding images like this into everyday life, with all that work performed by skilled laborers behind the scenes. It's interesting to consider the social implications, too. The advertisement links the elegant egret with leisure activities like hunting, subtly associating the consumption of cigarettes with an upper-class lifestyle. The card isn’t high art, but a collectible, and part of a much wider system of production and consumption. Looking at this little card, we can appreciate how materials, processes, and cultural context all intertwine, blurring the lines between commerce, art, and everyday life.