Card Number 29, Miss Trowbridge, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 3/8 in. (6.4 × 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
63.350.207.145.1.178
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Card Number 29, Trowbridge*, from *Actors and Actresses* series (N145-1). Issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to their Cross Cut Cigarettes, this petite albumen photograph captures the portrait of actress Miss Trowbridge. just 2½ × 1⅜ inches, it was designed as collectible ephemera—small, glossy cards tucked into cigarette packs to entice smokers and spark a collecting craze among enthusiasts. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites sensitized to silver salts, were the gold standard for sharp, detailed reproductions in the late 19...
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...