A Short History of General Leonidas Polk, from the Histories of Generals series (N114) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Smoking and Chewing Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/16 × 2 1/2 in. (10.7 × 6.4 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
63.350.206.114.145
Tags
Art Historical Context
This colorful trading card from 1888 belongs to the “Histories of Generals” series (N114), one of many sets produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to advertise Honest Long Cut Smoking and Chewing Tobacco. Printed by Knapp & Company as a commercial color lithograph, the small sheet—barely larger than a modern business card—features a portrait of Confederate General Leonidas Polk alongside a brief biographical sketch. Such cards were tucked into tobacco packages, encouraging customers to collect the full set and thereby boosting brand loyalty in an era before mass advertising. The piece reflects the l...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...