A Minstrel's Lay, from the Jokes series (N87) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.204.81.11
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s American advertising with *A Minstrel's Lay*, a charming chromolithograph from the J series (N87) by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with George S. & Sons. This petite card, measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, was designed as an insert for Duke brand cigarettes, part of a savvy marketing strategy by tobacco magnate James Buchanan Duke. a time when cigarettes were becoming a mass-produced luxury, these collectible cards turned smoking into a playful hobby, enticing consumers—often young men—with humorous vignettes tied to popular culture. Chromolithography,...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|George S. Harris & Sons · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...