Allie Redpath, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 in. (6.4 × 3.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.220.245.1501
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century American pop culture with this petite albumen photograph of actress Allie Redpath, part of the Actresses series (N245 Issued by the Kinney Tobacco Company in 189 to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes this tiny card—measuring just 2½ × 1⅜ inches—was tucked into cigarette packs as a collectible incentive. These ephemera captured the public's obsession with theater stars, turning everyday smokers into avid hobbyists who traded and albumed the colorful portraits. Printed via the albumen process, a hallmark of 19th-century photography, the image...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...