Formosa. Chewing tobacco. Spence Brothers and Co., Cincinnati, O. / Strobridge Co. lith, Cin., O. – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Formosa. Chewing tobacco. Spence Brothers and Co., Cincinnati, O. / Strobridge Co. lith, Cin., O., preserved in this antique lithograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
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Formosa. Chewing tobacco. Spence Brothers and Co., Cincinnati, O. / Strobridge Co. lith, Cin., O.
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The label's name, "Formosa," marks this as a brand of chewing tobacco rather than a view of the island it borrows its name from. Spence Brothers and Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, sold the tobacco, and the Strobridge Company of Cincinnati printed the color lithograph, a method that let manufacturers put bold, multicolored designs on packaging and advertising. Around 1872, when this was printed, tobacco makers competed fiercely for shelf space, and eye-catching labels were a central part of that competition. The piece is a useful record of how commercial printing and product branding developed together in the decades after the Civil War.
| Created / published | c1872. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : lithograph, crayon, color. |
| Genre | Labels 1870-1880.Lithographs Color 1870-1880. |
| Subjects | Tobacco--United States--1870-1880. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,422 × 1,144 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-216854 |
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