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

Editor: This is a lithograph print, a printer's sample from 1888, titled "R. Stephenson," intended for the "World's Inventors" souvenir album. It's remarkable how much detail they achieved on such a small scale. What catches your eye in this piece? Curator: What tickles my fancy about these little Victorian cards is that they’re like tiny portals. Snapshots of a world obsessed with progress, innovation, and categorizing…everything! You know, it’s not just a portrait, it’s a declaration. This image says, “Look at R. Stephenson! An Inventor! A man of importance!”... or at least that's what Allen & Ginter Cigarettes would like you to think while you puff away! Tell me, does Stephenson seem very exciting to you? Editor: Not particularly, he looks like a stern Victorian gentleman. Almost…interchangeable with any other portrait of the era. Was this mass-produced for cigarette packages? Curator: Precisely. This wasn't high art, love. It was clever advertising masked as…well, as historical record, of a sort. Mass-produced and slipped into cigarette packs to encourage collecting. So what you're seeing is both a portrait of a person, and a portrait of an era's aspirations, a beautiful little slice of marketing history. But in truth, aren't we all just printers' samples in some grand album, hoping to catch someone's eye? Editor: That's a surprisingly poignant way to look at it. I had never considered the album's intention, as advertising but I agree with the marketing and production values inherent in a collectible album series. Curator: Glad to shed some light, now light up a cigarette and continue thinking! (metaphorically speaking, of course)