Smyrna, from the City Flags series (N6) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1887

Editor: This little card, "Smyrna, from the City Flags series," was created in 1887 by Allen & Ginter using colored pencil and print techniques. It’s fascinating how this image of a city's flag is also advertising cigarettes. It's got such an appealing miniature landscape with that bright flag flying above! How would you interpret this unusual pairing of imagery and purpose? Curator: That's a keen observation. Consider Allen & Ginter's broader context. These weren’t just images; they were trade cards packaged with cigarettes. This was a period of burgeoning globalization, where expanding markets met new forms of visual culture. What purpose did such imagery serve? Editor: Perhaps it was a form of exoticization, to entice consumers with far-off places. Curator: Precisely. The image promotes a sense of global awareness, or rather, a *constructed* global awareness, framing "Smyrna" within a consumable package. The choice to include it within a *cigarette package* positions these locations less as real places and more as marketable ideals, luxury goods reduced to images to stimulate consumer desire. Is the flag then, a signifier of nation, or commodity? Editor: That definitely shifts my perspective. I see now that the flag, rather than a patriotic emblem, became another element to drive commerce. How does this fit into the Japonisme art movement this artwork has been labeled under? Curator: The delicate, almost miniaturist style of the landscape borrows from Japonisme. Think of the flattened perspective and decorative quality, elements which provided a sheen of cultural sophistication. But it is a Japonisme harnessed towards distinctly capitalist ends. We could ask, who is included, and who is not? Editor: It makes you wonder what the people of Smyrna would think, seeing their city represented as a tiny part of a cigarette pack in America. Thanks, I have much to consider. Curator: And hopefully a richer understanding of how even seemingly simple images participate in larger social and economic dynamics!