Annie St. Tel, 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
63.350.220.245.1727
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Annie St. Tel, the Actresses series (245)*, a petite albumen photograph issued by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. just 2½ × 1⅜ inches, this card captures the poised elegance of actress Annie St. Tel, of many celebrated performers featured in the series. Tobacco companies like Kinney Brothers these collectible "cigarette cards" as clever marketing tools, enticing smokers with glamorous portraits tucked inside cigarette packs. By 1890, such ephemera had become a cultural phenomenon, blending celebrity ...
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...