Brain Food, 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
63.350.204.81.49
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of late 19th-century advertising with *Brain Food*, a charming entry from the Jokes seriesN87) produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in with George S. Harris & Sons. Created in 1890, this commercial color lithograph—asuring just 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 inches—was designed as an insert for Duke brand cigarette packs. These tiny treasures, tagged with "Goats," the era's humorous spirit, blending wit and whimsy to entertain smokers while promoting the product. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by allowing vibrant, multi-color images to be produced afford...
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...