Snow Bird, from the Birds of America series (N37) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Curator: This is a Snow Bird print from the Birds of America series (N37), created by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes in 1888. The medium is coloured pencil and print. Editor: I find this little tableau charming! The bird looks so delicately perched against that snowy background, with those pops of red berries—there's almost a sense of wintry calm. Curator: Calm perhaps, but also strategic. Allen & Ginter used these cards as promotional items in their cigarette packs, capitalizing on the late 19th-century craze for collecting. These "Birds of America" became deeply entangled with consumer culture, turning natural imagery into a commodity. How does knowing that alter our perception? Editor: It complicates that initial impression, definitely. Knowing its origin—that it was mass-produced, packaged with cigarettes—introduces the element of labor. Someone, or a team, designed, drew, and printed countless copies of this. What were their working conditions? Who was consuming these cigarettes, and thus these images? Curator: The commodification of the image for distribution, combined with this being "art" attached to addictive products complicates our consumption of the artwork too. Consider that "Birds of America" as a title promises a representation of the natural world, but it's mediated through imperial and industrial eyes. Editor: It does push us to consider the materials further. This colored pencil work being replicated in prints means something gets lost—but something is also gained in reproducibility. It speaks to the changing means of production during this period and how images started circulating so widely. Curator: Absolutely. It prompts us to think about the historical implications within this miniature image and the normalisation of cigarettes for popular culture. This innocent looking card implicates systems of both power and production that continues to impact society. Editor: Thanks for unpacking it all! The tension between the card’s tranquil surface and its implications is a lot more resonant now. Curator: Agreed, seeing art as interwoven with larger systems makes it a lot less isolated, and more a reflection of the structures that enable its making and meaning.