Jacob Perkins, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Editor: This is Jacob Perkins, printer’s sample for the World’s Inventors souvenir album, by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes in 1888, currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I find its scale intriguing; it seems so small, almost like a little window into the past. What do you see in this piece, someone frozen in time but also a portrait of industrial optimism? Curator: It’s a pocket-sized paradox, isn’t it? Allen & Ginter were brilliant at turning these tiny portraits into vehicles of aspiration. They're selling cigarettes, sure, but also this dream of American ingenuity. The portrait style flattens him, but in that flattening, there's a sense of elevation, almost sainthood. It makes you wonder, what was Jacob Perkins like, beyond this little card? Were his dreams as grand as they appear here, smoothed and polished for consumption? Editor: Do you think that the goal was to represent who he was, or instead create this impression of the perfect inventor to associate with their brand? Curator: I would say the goal was closer to alchemy, attempting to transform tobacco into a shining vision of American innovation, using Perkins's image as the philosopher’s stone. The slight upward tilt of his gaze, does that suggest he’s looking to the future, or perhaps assessing the worth of his own inventions? What's more profitable than curiosity harnessed and packaged for a quick smoke? Editor: So, it is a tool for a corporation to convey a feeling? It is still interesting how small everyday items such as this can make you stop and consider what progress meant in the 19th century. Curator: Absolutely. It is funny, because as an artist, you almost feel like Perkins did become immortal because a part of him now lives on a baseball-style card. It really does speak to the ingenious blend of commerce and cultural myth-making that defined that era. A fleeting image, designed to sell dreams alongside cigarettes.