Card Number 178, Dallie Burns, 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
63.350.208.145.5.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s American advertising with *Card Number 178,ie Burns*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (N145-5). Issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to their Cameo Cigarettes, this trading card captures the allure of theater star Dallie Burns in a formal portrait. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches, these pocket-sized gems were tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts and turning everyday smokers into avid hobbyists. The albumen process, a hallmark of 19th-century photography, coated paper with egg whites sensitized ...
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...