From the Girls and Children series (N64) promoting Virginia Brights Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1886

This chromolithograph from the "From the Girls and Children series (N64)" was created by Allen & Ginter in 1886 to promote Virginia Brights Cigarettes, a tobacco product manufactured by the company. The artwork, likely intended for inclusion in a trade card, features a young woman in a red and white dress, standing against a green background. The woman’s pose and dress, which features a voluminous skirt and a tightly-laced bodice, evoke the 18th century. The artwork is a prime example of the trade card's evolution into a more artistic and detailed form of advertising, showcasing a blend of historical style and consumerism. The small size of the card, measuring only 2 5/8 × 1 1/2 in., makes it an intimate artifact of 19th-century visual culture.