Card Number 60, Jennie Freeland, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) 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
63.350.208.145.4.50
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Card Number 60, Freeland*, from the *Actors and Actresses* (N145-4). Issued by W. Duke Sons & Co. in 1880s to their Cameo Cigarettes, this albumen photograph—measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches—captures the poised portrait of actress Jennie Freeland. These pocket-sized cards were wildly popular collectibles, traded like baseball cards today, blending celebrity culture with clever marketing. The albumen printing process, using egg whites to bind light-sensitive silver salts to paper, produced the sharp, rich tones typical...
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...