Toco Toucan, from the Birds of the Tropics series (N5) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

Editor: This is the "Toco Toucan, from the Birds of the Tropics series" made in 1889, as a print for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. I’m really struck by how it almost feels like folk art, but I am curious to hear your take on this piece. What details stand out to you? Curator: I'm interested in the social context of this commercial image, particularly its ties to consumerism and the branding of the late 19th century. Note how watercolor drawing and printmaking merge here, not in service of "high art", but in the burgeoning culture of advertising. How might the techniques and distribution of these images relate to ideas of mass production and accessible aesthetics? Editor: That makes a lot of sense. I was looking at it as a kind of illustration, but you are right that its purpose was for branding and the image’s circulation would reach a broad spectrum of people. So the craft relates directly to accessibility, do you mean? Curator: Precisely. The materials and techniques employed are chosen for ease of reproduction and distribution. Watercolors and prints were practical. And consider how images like these normalized particular views of nature and the tropics – constructing a relationship between consumer goods, exoticism, and colonial narratives. In effect, the materials and distribution methods reinforce very particular cultural ideas. Editor: Wow, I didn't think about that before. Seeing it in that light is actually super helpful! Thanks. Curator: It's all about investigating the physical making, and the cultural work these materials were employed to do. Something seemingly so simple shows how commercial items intersect in this way!