Card Number 126, Lillian Grubb, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 in. (6.6 × 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
63.350.207.145.2.143
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of 1880s America, tobacco giant W. Duke, Sons & Co. revolutionized marketing by inserting collectible trading cards into their Cross Cut Cigarette packs. This petite albumen photograph, *Card Number 126, Grubb* from the Actors and Act series (N145-2), captures the poised elegance of the stage actress in a format designed for eager collectors. Measuring just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches, these ephemeral gems turned everyday smoking into a hobby, sparking a craze for celebrity portraits. Albumen prints, the medium here, were the gold standard of 19th-century photography, created ...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 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...