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

This is R. J. Gatling, a printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album made by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. Produced in the late 19th century, this lithograph is a classic example of how commercial culture intersected with popular fascination for innovation. Gatling, the inventor of the Gatling gun, is portrayed as a respectable, almost heroic figure, embodying the era's belief in progress through technology. But this image also reveals a complex relationship between invention, industry, and militarization. The Gatling gun, a precursor to the machine gun, significantly impacted warfare, and its association with a cigarette brand raises ethical questions about the glorification of weapons. To understand this image fully, we need to investigate not only Gatling's biography but also the history of Allen & Ginter, the rise of consumer culture, and the changing landscape of warfare in the late 19th century. The resources for such a study lie in the archives of trade, advertising, and military history, where the contingent meanings of this image can be revealed.