Carrier Pigeon, from the Birds of America series (N37) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This small printed card of a carrier pigeon was produced by Allen and Ginter, a Richmond, Virginia, cigarette manufacturer. It's made from paper, printed with chromolithography. A process popular at the time that allowed for the mass production of colorful images. The card is part of a larger series, Birds of America, that was included in packs of cigarettes as a marketing tool. This was a time when mass production and consumer culture were rapidly expanding, and even small everyday objects became canvases for advertising and promotion. The card's design, with its ornate borders and detailed illustration, would have been appealing to smokers, enticing them to purchase the product. The amount of work involved in creating these cards – from the initial design to the printing and distribution – speaks to the scale of the tobacco industry and its reach into everyday life. Paying attention to materials, production processes, and how commercial images circulate can reveal a lot about our culture and history.