Card Number 357, Pauline Hall, 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
63.350.208.145.5.50
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 1880s, American tobacco companies like W. Duke, Sons & Co. revolutionized marketing with collectible cigarette cards, tiny treasures inserted into cigarette packs to boost sales of brands like Cameo Cigarettes. This card, Number 357 from the Actors and Actresses series (145-5), features Hall, a celebrated stage performer known for her roles in musical comedies and burlesque shows. At just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches, it's a pocket-sized portrait that captured the era's fascination with theater stars, turning everyday smokers into avid collectors. Printed as an albumen photograph—a pion...
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...