Plate 29, from the Fans of the Period series (N7) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

This is "Plate 29" from the "Fans of the Period" series, a collectible card produced by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes, of Richmond, Virginia, sometime in the late 19th century. These cards, distributed with cigarette packs, were designed to encourage brand loyalty. Series like "Fans of the Period" were aimed at middle-class consumers with an interest in collecting attractive images, but they also served as a tool for cultural instruction. The fan in this image, for example, is not merely an aesthetic object. As a handheld object with historical associations, it evokes a sense of social hierarchy and the history of trade. The question is, what kind of cultural knowledge did the manufacturers assume their consumers already possessed and what were they trying to teach them? Advertising ephemera like this offers a fascinating glimpse into the social and cultural values of its time. Delving into the company's history and the context of the late 19th-century advertising would surely reveal a lot more.