Edna Wallace-Hopper, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 in. (6.4 × 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
63.350.220.245.1918
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Edna Wallace-Hopper from the Actresses seriesN245)*, a petite albumen photograph produced by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company Issued to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, card is part of a collectible series featuring glamorous portraits of stage stars. Measuring just 2½ × 1⅞ inches, it captures the essence of Gilded Age ephemera—small, affordable inserts tucked into cigarette packs that fueled a collecting craze among enthusiasts. Edna Wallace-Hopper, a celebrated actress known for her comedic roles on Broadway and in vaudevi...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...