E. B. Bigelow, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Here we have a printer's sample for the "World's Inventors" souvenir album, A25, featuring E.B. Bigelow. It's from a series created in 1888 by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes, using lithographic prints. Editor: Instantly, I get this… intimate yet removed vibe. It's a tiny portrait, a peek into a moment frozen on what looks like a trading card. A dignified, bald gentleman rendered in somewhat softened colors. Is he blushing? Curator: What fascinates me is how this image functions as promotional material. Lithography allowed for mass production, so Allen & Ginter could include these in their cigarette packs, using Bigelow’s image and that of other inventors as incentives. It's an intriguing convergence of industry, art, and consumerism. Editor: It's wild to think that art appreciation, or at least gazing at tiny portraits, was packaged with nicotine. But about Bigelow, the softened rosy cheek is somewhat intriguing here. Do you suppose he was an easily embarrassed soul, perhaps uncomfortable with his portrait appearing alongside cigarettes? Curator: He was an early power loom pioneer and industrialist, but maybe you are on to something! In examining this artwork as a manufactured object, consider that portraits were also about building reputations, visualizing power, and creating narratives around success. To have it distributed this way highlights shifts in both production and promotion, reflecting changing societal values. Editor: A fascinating glimpse into industrial capitalism indeed. It makes me wonder how many ended up tossed away and unappreciated, and if that’s a symbol of his contribution to technological invention in weaving! The industrialization of life and human progress rendered trivial, given away. Curator: Absolutely. These weren’t intended to be kept. Their value lies in the network of production, distribution, and exchange, where image becomes both an object of desire and a tool for building brand loyalty. That interplay is the real artwork, perhaps more so than Bigelow's likeness itself. Editor: What began for me as a quiet moment is, because of you, a shout across industry and promotion. Curator: And what appears to be a man's rosy face transforms in your eyes, into a critical inquiry on human value during mass industrialization!