View source for Allen & Ginter

{{Short description|American tobacco company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Allen & Ginter
| logo = Allen ginter oldtextlogo.png
| logo_size = 
| logo_alt = 
| logo_caption =  
| image = Allen ginter smoker figure.png
| image_size = 160px
| image_alt = 
| image_caption = The "Old Planter" that identified Allen & Ginter
| trading_name = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{Lang|[code]|[name]}}. -->
| romanized_name = 
| former_name = 
| type = [[Private company|Private]]
| traded_as = 
| ISIN = 
| industry = [[Tobacco industry|Tobacco]]
| genre = 
| fate = Merged to other companies to form [[American Tobacco Company|American Tobacco Co.]]
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = Ca. 1880
| founder = John F. Allen, [[Lewis Ginter]]
| defunct = {{Start date and age|1890}} <ref name=porter/>
| hq_location = [[Richmond, Virginia]]
| hq_location_city = 
| hq_location_country = [[United States|USA]]
| num_locations = 
| num_locations_year = <!-- Year of num_locations data (if known) -->
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = 
| products = [[Cigarette]]s, Pipe tobacco
| brands = {{nowrap|
* Dandies
* Little Beauties
* Perfection
* Richmond Gems
* Virginia Brights
}}
| production = 
| production_year = <!-- Year of production data (if known) -->
| services = 
| revenue = 
| revenue_year = <!-- Year of revenue data (if known) -->
| operating_income = 
| income_year = <!-- Year of operating_income data (if known) -->
| net_income = <!-- or: | profit = -->
| net_income_year = <!-- or: | profit_year = --><!-- Year of net_income/profit data (if known) -->
| aum = <!-- Only for financial-service companies -->
| assets = 
| assets_year = <!-- Year of assets data (if known) -->
| equity = 
| equity_year = <!-- Year of equity data (if known) -->
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| members = 
| members_year = <!-- Year of members data (if known) -->
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = 
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| module = <!-- Used to embed other templates -->
| ratio = <!-- Basel III ratio; used for banks only -->
| rating = <!-- Credit rating; used for banks only -->
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Allen & Ginter''' was a [[Richmond, Virginia]], [[tobacco]] manufacturing company formed by John F. Allen and [[Lewis Ginter]] around 1880. The firm created and marketed the first [[cigarette card]]s for [[collectable|collecting]] and [[trading card|trading]] in the [[United States]]. Some of the notable cards in the series include baseball players [[Charles Comiskey]], [[Cap Anson]], and [[Jack Glasscock]], as well as non-athletes like [[Buffalo Bill|Buffalo Bill Cody]].

The company merged with four other tobacco manufacturers to form the [[American Tobacco Company]] in 1890.<ref name=porter/> Since 2006, a revived version of the brand has been issued by [[Topps]] for a line of [[baseball card]]s.<ref name=board/>

==History==
===Tobacco manufacturing===
[[File:Industries of Richmond 1886 - Allen and Ginter.jpg|thumb|left|Engraving of the Allen & Ginter warehouses in Richmond, Virginia, from an 1886 promotional book]]
[[File:Virginia brights cigarette box.jpg|thumb|right|130px|Virginia Brights cigarette box by Allen & Ginter, c. 1888]]
The firm of Allen & Ginter, born around 1880, was the rebranding of John F. Allen & Company, a partnership formed about eight years earlier by John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter. When Allen retired in 1882, Ginter took on John Pope as his new partner but kept Allen's name. The first tobacco company to employ female labor, by 1886 they had 1,100 employees, predominantly girls, who rolled the cigarettes.<ref>''The industries of Richmond : Her Trade, Commerce, Manufactures and Representative Establishments''. Richmond: Metropolitan Publishing Co., 1886.</ref>

Around 1876, the company offered a prize for the invention of a machine able to roll cigarettes (which until then had been hand-rolled).<ref>Burns, Brian. ''Lewis Ginter: Richmond's Gilded Age Icon''. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2011.</ref> In 1880, [[James Albert Bonsack]] of Virginia invented a cigarette rolling machine. Because it was not completely reliable, all but one of the large tobacco manufacturers declined to buy the machine. [[James Buchanan Duke]] did buy this cigarette rolling machine in 1885 and used it to great success; by 1890 he had consolidated his four major competitors, including Allen & Ginter, and formed the [[American Tobacco Company]].<ref>Pritcher, Lynn. [http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/tobacco.html "More About Tobacco Advertising and the Tobacco Collections."] ''Duke University Libraries''. 24 January 2008. 10 April 2008.</ref> The "Allen & Ginter Company" was no more, but Lewis Ginter sat on the board of the American Tobacco Company.

The cigarette brands of Allen & Ginter included Richmond Gems, Virginia Brights, Perfection, Dandies and Little Beauties.

In 1890, Allen & Ginter, along with other companies of the United States (W. Duke & Sons, W.S. Kimball & Company, [[Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company|Kinney Tobacco]], and [[Goodwin & Company]]) formed the [[American Tobacco Company]], in an attempt to compete against [[United Kingdom|British]] tobacco companies.<ref name=porter>{{cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Patrick G.|title=Origins of the American Tobacco Company|journal=Business History Review|date=1969|volume=43|issue=1|pages=59–76|publisher=President and Fellows of Harvard College|doi=10.2307/3111987|jstor=3111987|s2cid=145351728 |edition=1|access-date=16 November 2015|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/origins-of-the-american-tobacco-company/7E914B46F4C45E1A0D1A513DCBFD1511}}</ref>

===Collectible cards===
In late 1880s, Allen & Ginter began to release [[cigarette card]] sets as promotional items for its [[cigarette]] brands. The most part of the collection consisted of illustrated cards, but there were a few collections of photographs. Topics varied from birds and wild animals to American Indian chiefs or flags of the world. Allen & Ginter's [[baseball card]]s were the first of the tobacco era baseball cards ever produced for distribution on a national level.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150908053442/http://www.allenandginter.net/ag-cards/allen-ginter-tobacco-cards.html Allen & Ginter Tobacco Cards] (Archive, 27 Jul 2009)</ref> The most popular and highly sought after of these sets is the N28 and N29 "World's Champions" series, released in 1887.<ref name=board>[http://www.cardboardconnection.com/n28-allen-ginter-baseball-cards 1887 N28 Allen & Ginter Baseball Cards] on The Cardboard Connection</ref>

===Modern era===
{{Infobox brand
| name           = Allen & Ginter (brand)
| logo           = [[File:Allen Ginter brand logo.png|200px]]
| logo_upright   = 
| logo_alt       = 
| logo_caption   = 
| image          = 
| image_upright  = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| producttype    = [[Trading card]]s
| currentowner   = [[Topps]]
| producedby     = 
| country        = [[United States]]
| introduced     = {{Start date and age|2006}}
| discontinued   = 
| related        = [[Topps]]
| markets        = 
| previousowners = 
| trademarkregistrations = 
| ambassadors    = 
| tagline        = 
| website        = [https://www.topps.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=allen+ginter Allen & Ginter collection]
| module         = <!-- or: misc -->
| module1        = <!-- or: misc1 -->
}}
In 2006, [[Topps]], a leading producer of [[confectionery]] and [[trading card]]s, resurrected the Allen & Ginter brand name to produce a series of illustrated [[trading card]]s, mostly focused on [[baseball card|baseball sets]]. Nevertheless, the first couple of years of the product's inception saw the inclusion of several other sports figures such as [[Jennie Finch]] ([[softball]]), [[Brandi Chastain]] and [[Mia Hamm]] ([[association football|soccer]]), [[Hulk Hogan]] ([[wrestling]]), [[Danica Patrick]] ([[auto racing]]), [[Leon Spinks]] ([[boxing]]), [[Randy Couture]] ([[mixed martial arts]]), [[Misty May-Treanor]] ([[beach volleyball]]) and [[Dennis Rodman]] ([[basketball]]).<ref name=board/>

Allen & Ginter cards began to feature hand-painted cards of current baseball players as well as various insert sets featuring standout athletes in other sports, pop culture icons, and historical figures ranging from [[Jason Acuña|Wee-Man]] to [[Davy Crockett]] and everything in between.

[[Non-sports trading card]]s issued by Topps included personalities such as [[Robert E. Lee]], [[Thomas Edison]], [[Billy the Kid]] and [[Andrew Carnegie]], [[Davy Crockett]], among others.<ref name=board/>

From 2006 to 2009, artist [[Dick Perez]] was commissioned to hand paint special one of one insert cards in the style of Allen & Ginter. Perez created 30 art cards each of those years featuring the prominent stars of the game.<ref>{{cite web
  |work= sportscard-checklists.net
  |title= 2006 Allen & Ginter Dick Perez Original Sketches
  |url= http://www.sportscard-checklists.net/baseball/checklists/bb_setcard.php?setid=3056
  |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130222040234/http://www.sportscard-checklists.net/baseball/checklists/bb_setcard.php?setid=3056
  |url-status= dead
  |archive-date= 2013-02-22
  }}</ref>

As of 2012 the Allen & Ginter series remains one of Topps' most popular, highest selling brands in their product lineup.

The best known of the Allen & Ginter insert sets however, are the DNA Hair Relic cards. These highly lauded cards feature strands of hair from famous historical figures such as [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]], [[George Washington]] and many others.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cardboardconnection.com/2010-topps-allen-and-ginter-rip-card-sp-insert-sets-checklist-2 |title=2010 Topps Allen and Ginter DNA Hair Relic Set Checklist |access-date=2012-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721144705/http://www.cardboardconnection.com/2010-topps-allen-and-ginter-rip-card-sp-insert-sets-checklist-2 |archive-date=2012-07-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Another popular feature of the Allen & Ginter product is the Rip Card. Invented by hobby shop owner and Topps consultant [[Alan Narz]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080202947A1/en|title = Collectible card with cavity for containing inner item}}</ref> Rip Cards have been a part of every Allen & Ginter product since 2006. These cards allow collectors to keep the card intact or to rip the outer card to reveal an exclusive mini card available only inside of a Rip Card. These mini cards may be short prints, autographs, or cards made from metal or wood. Beginning in 2013, Topps began including a Double Rip Card, which had two inner cavities with mini cards inside. In 2019, Topps introduced a jumbo Box Topper Rip Card, with 3 mini cards inside.

==Trading cards series==
There were various [[cigarette card]] sets released as promotional items for these products. The most popular and highly sought after of these sets is the N28 and N29 "World's Champions" series, released in 1887.<ref name=board/>

Some of the series released were (all illustrations, except where noted):

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* A25: World's Inventors
* N1: American Editors 
* N2: American Indian Chiefs 
* N3: Arms of All Nations  
* N4: Birds of America 
* N5: Birds of the Tropics
* N6: City Flags 
* N8: 50 Fish From American Waters
* N9: Flags of All Nations
* N10: Flags of All Nations 2
* N11: Flags of the States and Territories
* N12: Fruits
* N13: Game birds
* N14: General Government and State Capitol Buildings
* N15: Great Generals
* N16: Natives in Costumes
* N17: Naval Flags 
* N18: Parasol Drills
* N19: Pirates of the Spanish
* N21: 50 Quadrupeds
* N22: Racing Colors of the World 
* N23: Song Birds of the World
* N24: Types of All Nations
* N25: Wild Animals of the World 
* N26: World's Beauties {{refn|Photographic cards.|group=note|name=photo}}
* N27: World's Beauties 2 {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N28: World's Champions
* N29: World's Champions 2
* N30: World's Decorations
* N31: World's Dudes
* N32: World's [[horse racing|Racers]]
* N33: World's Smokers
* N34: World's Sovereigns
* N35: American Editors 2
* N36: American Indian Chiefs 2
* N37: Birds of America 2
* N38: Birds of the Tropics 2
* N40: Game Birds
* N42: Song Birds of the World
* N43: World's Champions 2
* N45: Actors and Actresses {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N46: Cigarette Making Girls
* N47: Dogs <sup>1</sup>
* N48: Girl Baseball Players {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N49: Girl Cyclists {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N57: Actresses {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N58: Girls and Children {{refn|For Our Litte Beauties cigarettes.|group=note|name=ourlitt}}
* N59: Girls {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N60: Actresses and Celebrities {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
* N64: Girls and Children {{refn|For Virginia Brights cigarettes.|group=note|name=virgi}}
* N65: Girls and Children {{refn|For Richmond cigarettes.|group=note|name=richmond}}
* N67: Actresses 2 {{refn|group=note|name=photo}}
{{div col end}}

;Notes
{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{center|'''Cigarette cards gallery'''}}
<gallery>
File:Dwyer Brothers, from the Racing Colors of the World series (N22b) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835213.jpg|[[Dwyer Brothers Stable|Dwyer Brothers]] ([[Jockey#Racing colours|Racing Colors of the World]]
File:Emily Bancker, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes MET DP831374.jpg|[[Emily Bancker]] (Actors and Actresses)
File:Austro-Hungary, from Flags of All Nations, Series 2 (N10) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP841360.jpg|[[Austria-Hungary]] (Flags of All Nations)
File:South Africa (Boer), from the Natives in Costume series (N16), Teofani Issue, for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP834892.jpg|[[Boer]] (Natives in Costume)
File:Canada Goose, from the Game Birds series (N13) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP834665.jpg|Canada Goose from Game Bird series (1889)
File:Big Elk, Ponca, from the American Indian Chiefs series (N2) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP828003.jpg|[[Big Elk]] (Indian Chiefs of America)
File:Eagle, from the Birds of America series (N4) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP828758.jpg|[[Bald eagle]] (Birds of America)
File:Benjamin Franklin, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP838827.jpg|[[Benjamin Franklin]] (World's Inventors)
File:Cimeter, from the Arms of All Nations series (N3) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands MET DP828704.jpg|[[Scimitar|Cimiter]] (Arms of All Nations)
File:Edward Teach (Black Beard), Walking the Plank, from the Pirates of the Spanish Main series (N19) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP835032.jpg|[[Blackbeard|Edward Teach]] (Pirates of the Spanish)
File:Frank B. "Yank" Adams, Billiard Player, from World's Champions, Series 1 (N28) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP827440.jpg|[[Yank Adams]] (World's Champions)
File:Emperor of Austria, from World's Sovereigns series (N34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes MET DP838676.jpg|[[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]], (World's Sovereigns)
</gallery>

== Further reading ==
*Enstad, Nan. ''Cigarettes, Inc.: An Intimate History of Corporate Imperialism.'' University of Chicago Press, 2018.
*[[Robert Sobel]] ''The Entrepreneurs: Explorations Within the American Business Tradition'' (Weybright & Talley 1974), chapter 5, ''James Buchanan Duke: Opportunism Is the Spur'' {{ISBN|0-679-40064-8}}.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.topps.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=allen+ginter Allen & Ginter collections] on Topps
* [https://www.cardboardconnection.com/2020-topps-allen-ginter-baseball-cards Topps Allen & Ginter collection] on Cardboardconnection
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20210616173341/http://allen-ginter.com/ Allen & Ginter collector's site] (archived, 16 June 2021)

{{American Tobacco Company}}
{{Topps Sports Card Products By Year}}
{{Sports cards}}
{{Non-sports trading cards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen and Ginter}}
[[Category:1880s establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:1890 disestablishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Companies established in the 1880s]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1890]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1890]]
[[Category:1890 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American Tobacco Company]]
[[Category:Tobacco companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Richmond, Virginia]]
[[Category:Baseball cards]]
[[Category:Trading card companies]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Virginia]]