Wyandotte Cock (Silver Laced), from the Prize and Game Chickens series (N20) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1891

This is an advertisement card for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes, featuring a "Wyandotte Cock (Silver Laced)" from their "Prize and Game Chickens" series. Produced in an era marked by industrial expansion and burgeoning consumer culture, these cards offer a glimpse into the late 19th-century fascination with categorization and display. What does it mean to classify and commodify living beings? The choice of a Wyandotte cock, with its silver-laced plumage, speaks to the aesthetic values of the time, and perhaps the values of the cigaret smoking public. But it also raises questions about selective breeding and the human desire to control and manipulate nature. The very act of naming and depicting this particular breed is loaded. While seemingly innocuous, this advertisement reflects deeper societal attitudes towards nature, commerce, and the ways in which we construct and market our desires. It serves as a reminder of the complex layers embedded within even the most commonplace objects.