Card Number 166, Sadie Bruno, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 in. (6.8 × 3.5 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
63.350.208.145.5.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 166, Bruno*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (N145-5), issued W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1880s to promote their Cameo Cigarettes. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches, this tiny portrait captures the poised elegance of actress Sadie Bruno, one of many performers featured in this collectible set. Tobacco companies like Duke cleverly leveraged the star power of theater luminaries to entice smokers, turning everyday ephemera into coveted keepsakes. Printed using the albumen process—where a light-sens...
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...