Card Number 194, Grace Wilson, 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
63.350.207.145.2.446
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 194, Wilson*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (145-2). Issued W. Duke, Sons & Co. in the 1880s to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes, 2⅝ × 1⅞-inch card captures the poised elegance of actress Grace Wilson, embodying the era's fascination with theater stars. These collectible inserts, tucked into cigarette packs, turned smoking into a gateway for hobbyists, sparking a craze for swapping and album-filling among enthusiasts. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and sensitizing it with s...
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...