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
63.350.220.245.1920
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with this petite albumen photograph of Edna Wallace-Hopper, a celebrated stage actress, from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Actresses series (N245). Issued to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, this card measures just 2½ × 1⅜ inches, designed for collectors to tuck into albums or trade among friends. Captured in sharp detail typical of albumen prints—made by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts for a glossy, luminous finish—it showcases Hopper's poised elegance, highlighting her as a star of the era's theater scene. Th...
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...