Card Number 54, Ethel Selwyn, 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
63.350.207.145.2.342
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s American popular culture with *Card Number 54, Ethel Selwyn*, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2). Issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to their Cross Cut Cigarettes, this albumen photograph—measuring just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches—captures the alluring portrait of actress Ethel Sel. These collectible trade cards were tucked into cigarette packs, enticing smokers to gather full sets of theatrical stars and fueling a craze for celebrity memorabilia during the Gilded Age. Albumen prints, the dominant photographic medium of the era, used egg whites to create 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...