Whitelaw Reid, New York Tribune, from the American Editors series (N1) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1887

Editor: So, this little gem is "Whitelaw Reid, New York Tribune," a lithograph print from 1887, part of the American Editors series by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. It feels like a tiny, reverent shrine to a newspaperman. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Isn’t it marvelous how a humble cigarette card can encapsulate an era? What jumps out at me is the almost theatrical presentation of Reid. He's posed as this rosy-cheeked, respectable figure, backed by... a newspaper! I like to imagine these cards scattered about, sparking conversations about who truly shapes public opinion. Do you think its presentation romanticizes the role of the editor? Editor: Absolutely! The romanticism is dripping from those pastel colors. Though I wonder, why immortalize him in a cigarette card? Seems almost... contradictory, given the health implications we know now. Curator: Oh, the delicious ironies of history! Back then, it was all about associating your brand with success, intellect, power. Putting Reid, this influential editor, on a cigarette card? Genius! And slightly subversive, don't you think? What if he secretly loathed smoking? Now, that's a narrative I'd chase. It would add a certain depth and drama. What have we gleaned from this tiny window into the past? Editor: I guess I hadn't considered how revealing such an everyday object could be. It makes me rethink how we memorialize figures and the weird products we associate with them! Curator: Precisely! Art isn't always grand pronouncements. Sometimes, it's whispers in a smoke-filled room. Or printed on something not built to last, but leaves behind a story anyway.