Card Number 36, Frankie Kemble, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-6) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke 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
63.350.208.145.6.43
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Card Number 36, Kemble*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (N145-6), issued by W. Duke Sons & Co. to promote their Duke Cigarettes. This portrait (just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches) captures the poised elegance of actress Frankie K, one of many celebrated performers featured in this collectible set. Trade cards like this were wildly popular giveaways, enticing smokers and collectors alike with glamorous images of stage stars. Produced using the albumen printing process—dominant in the 19th century for its sharp detail an...
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...