chromo

What it means

1. historicalA color print produced by chromolithography.

   All Nature is smiling, in fact, with one large, comprehensive smile, exactly like a first-class PRANG chromo with a fresh coat of varnish upon it.

   1870, Various, Punchinello Vol. 1, No. 21, August 20, 1870

   2 more examples

   It was manifest that we all felt that we ought to send the poor shoemaker SOMETHING. There was long and thoughtful discussion of this point; and we finally decided to send him a chromo.

   1883, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Life on the Mississippi

   The neglected warehouse turned out to be a treasury of calendar art from the 1930s through the 1970s, years when chromo art calendars were a major advertising medium, a vehicle for national pride, and a fixture in nearly every home, business, and school.

   1999 February 19, Deanna Isaacs, “On Exhibit: a treasure trove of Mexican pop art”, in Chicago Reader

In a sentence

All Nature is smiling, in fact, with one large, comprehensive smile, exactly like a first-class PRANG chromo with a fresh coat of varnish upon it.

1870, Various, Punchinello Vol. 1, No. 21, August 20, 1870

Where it comes from

Shortened from chromolithograph.