Ellaline Terriss, 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
63.350.220.245.1791
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of late 19th-century theater with *Ellaline Terriss, the Actresses series (245)*, a tiny yet captivating albumen photograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1890 This pocket-sized card (just 2½ × 1⅜ inches) features the celebrated actress Ellaline Terriss, whose poised portrait embodies the era's fascination with stage stars. Issued to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, was one of many in a popular series designed to entice collectors by tucking celebrity images into cigarette packs. These ephemera cards mark a clever marketing innovation during America...
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...