Plumed Partridge, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888 - 1890

Curator: Here we have "Plumed Partridge, from the Game Birds series (N40) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes," dating from around 1888 to 1890. It’s a color print and drawing created for a cigarette card. Editor: My first impression is how delicate and whimsical it feels for something advertising tobacco! There’s almost an idealized storybook quality to the image. Curator: That idealized quality speaks volumes, doesn’t it? It highlights how commercial imagery, particularly in the late 19th century, used notions of pastoral tranquility and “exotic” game birds to sell a product potentially detrimental to health, predominantly to a male consumer base. The positioning of this vibrant partridge on the cigarette card is very intentional. It suggests a connection with nature, even luxury, that feels at odds with the commodity itself. Editor: I'm also drawn to the color choices. The bird is rendered in vivid blues and reds, and juxtaposed with a serene landscape, creating a sense of harmony, but also an almost heraldic presentation. Birds often have deep symbolic associations, from freedom and spirituality to something much more ominous—as omens or symbols of fragility. Was the partridge a specific symbol for consumers at that time? Curator: Partridge imagery at the time was certainly a signal of elite hunting culture—linking tobacco to leisure and wealth. Consider the visual language used; it presents a sort of trophy ready to be taken. Also, it’s impossible to separate these kinds of depictions from a legacy of colonialism. “Exotic” creatures becoming objects to possess. These promotional items normalized a worldview steeped in privilege and power imbalances. Editor: It's remarkable how much cultural weight these small cards carry. Even the way the title is designed, nestled among ornate swirls, makes you question the intent— is it about nature or commodity? What's being prioritized here? Curator: Indeed. It's about the convergence of industrial expansion, the birth of advertising, and evolving societal hierarchies. Studying these images through an intersectional lens exposes the complex socio-political landscape that birthed them. Editor: I’ll certainly look at cigarette cards differently from now on! The layers of history and visual symbolism embedded within them are much richer than I first anticipated.