Card Number 76, Lillian Russell, 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
63.350.207.145.2.338
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of Gilded Age theater with *Card Number 76, Russell*, a charming albumen photograph from the Actors and Actresses series (145-2), issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in the 1880s to promote their Cut Cigarettes. This portrait (just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches) captures the iconic American soprano and actress Lillian Russell, called the "American Beauty for her stunning looks and commanding stage presence in burlesque and musical. These cigarette cards were savvy marketing ephemera, tucked into tobacco packs to entice collectors and boost sales amid rising cigarette populari...
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...