Card Number 391, Nellie Beaumont, 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
63.350.208.145.5.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 391,ie Beaumont*, from the *Actors and Actresses* (N145-5), issued by W. Duke Sons & Co. in 1880s. This tiny albumen photograph, measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches, captures the poised elegance of actress Nellie Beaumont, one of many celebrated performers immortalized on these promotional cards for Cameo Cigarettes. Duke's innovative trade cards were tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts and turning everyday smokers into amateur archivists. Produced using the albumen process—where...
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...