R. Fulton, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Curator: What strikes me immediately is the exquisite composition and the subtle blush tones against the dark coat; it's a beautifully crafted miniature, almost jewel-like. Editor: This is R. Fulton, a printer’s sample for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes dating back to 1888. The sample card was created for a souvenir album titled, "World's Inventors." Allen & Ginter tapped into the collectible craze of the time. Curator: Cigarette cards… it is surprising to see a cultural artefact elevating the every-day by employing an art style often associated with Japanese prints. Japonisme, specifically its flattening of perspective and stylized portraiture is detectable. It reminds me of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in some respects. Editor: In visual culture, cigarettes became connected with progress, industrialisation, and even the exotic “Orient," during that time. But seeing a "great inventor" packaged along with cheap cigarettes creates this dissonance—tobacco with triumph, habit with history. Robert Fulton's steamboat then morphs into a brand-building image. It really speaks volumes about industrial society’s shifting value systems at the time. Curator: So the card becomes a signifier of not only Fulton’s individual achievements but also a reflection of how society begins commodifying historical narratives. The rosy-cheeked portrayal, slightly idealized, makes me curious if the aim was to soften the sharp edges of industrial progress by associating it with appealing human attributes? Editor: It is an astute observation. Such portraits and memorabilia were aimed to make larger-than-life historical characters appear accessible, somewhat approachable. The printing itself is interesting. There’s the clear portrait but consider the soft grain that hints at a drawing and printmaking origin. What the sample truly achieves is to give legacy an intimacy, and distance and accessibility simultaneously. Curator: Thinking about it now, there's this curious continuity. Like Byzantine icons once carrying sacred narratives and characteristics, now tobacco cards present secular saints of industry and ingenuity for a consumerist culture to idolize in its way. Editor: Agreed, both celebrate a symbolic continuity across material cultures, linking innovation and human progress with simple accessible tokens. Thank you, it was enriching! Curator: It was my pleasure entirely.