Elias Howe, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This is a chromolithograph print from 1888 by the tobacco company Allen & Ginter, depicting the American inventor Elias Howe. The print is a sample from a souvenir album intended to be distributed with Allen & Ginter cigarettes. The portrait features Howe looking directly at the viewer, and the piece uses stippling to mimic a realistic texture, a technique common in chromolithographs. This print, part of a series of illustrated cards featuring famous inventors, is a prime example of early 20th-century American commercial art and trade cards.