History of advertising. Part 10. Allen & Ginter (19 photos)
Beginning in 1875, tobacco companies began packing cards with images of actresses, baseball players, boxers, writers, and even Indian chiefs into cigarette packages. Companies like Goodwin & Co. and Allen & Ginter made the cards into collectibles. People collected them and sales increased. Of course, the cards were branded. It was a clever way to get people to think about cigarettes even when they weren't smoking. Considering it was 1870, this had never happened before.