Arvita, from the Ballet Queens series (N182) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

This small chromolithograph of ‘Arvita’ from the ‘Ballet Queens’ series was issued by the Wm. S. Kimball & Company. The company, a cigarette manufacturer, printed the image using a method that was highly advanced for the time. Chromolithography allowed for the mass production of colorful images through a labor-intensive process of using multiple limestone printing plates, each inked with a different color. This then transferred the image in layers onto paper. The result? An image like this, which was far more visually striking than earlier forms of printmaking allowed. The fact that the cards were given away with cigarette purchases speaks volumes about how new technologies of production were intimately tied to the rise of consumer culture. And while these cards may seem like mere ephemera, they represent a significant shift in how images were made, distributed, and consumed. They were truly, products of their time.