James Gordon Bennett, The New York Herald, from the American Editors series (N1) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1887

Curator: This portrait of James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald is from the Allen & Ginter American Editors series, dating to 1887. These were actually trade cards issued with cigarette packs, you know, back when advertising and consumer culture were really taking off. Editor: Wow, tiny titan! I can practically smell the tobacco and the ink. He looks terribly serious for something given away with smokes. A determined air, though somewhat...squished? Like he's been compressed to fit inside that little rectangle. Curator: Right! Scale is crucial here. It's easy to dismiss these as mere ephemera, but the printing and design reveal how consumer capitalism intertwined with cultural promotion. Allen & Ginter weren’t just selling cigarettes, they were selling aspiration, knowledge, a slice of celebrity. They're collectible cards that were circulated broadly, demonstrating different fields of prominence. Editor: Absolutely. Imagine someone tucking Mr. Bennett here in their wallet, next to a faded photo of a sweetheart. This little card has stories to tell about aspiration, celebrity, newsprint, the very whiff of nineteenth-century life. It makes you wonder what all those hands thought about Mr. Bennett. Was he admired? Loathed? Curator: I find the production particularly interesting—photographic portraiture was becoming democratized, allowing the rapid circulation of images. This particular portrait being made with drawing and printing highlights how old artistic practices merge with technological developments to produce an aura of sophistication and authority for something ultimately distributed freely, with tobacco. Editor: There's something undeniably poetic about a news magnate gracing a cigarette card. I imagine he would've been mildly horrified but also secretly delighted. Now, when was the last time the news and my bad habits coincided in such a neat little package? Curator: That connection between commerce and culture feels very alive today. How we consume celebrity and manufacture consent and I see a reflection of the current state in a product as trivial seeming as a cigarette card. Editor: True. Next time I feel guilty for procrastinating by scrolling social media, maybe I will think of good old Mr. Bennett there.