Fanny Rice, from the Actresses series (N246), Type 2, issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sporting Extra Cigarettes
ca. 1890
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 × 2 7/8 in. (7.7 × 7.3 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
63.350.220.246.87
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century American advertising with *Fanny Rice, from the Actresses series (246), Type 2*, a charming albumen photograph issued around 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. petite portrait (just 3 1/16 × 2 7/8 inches) captures the poised elegance of actress Fanny Rice, one of many celebrated performers featured in the series to entice smokers of Sporting Extra Cigarettes. These were savvy marketing tools, tucked into cigarette packs to boost brand loyalty and fuel a burgeoning collecting craze among enthusiasts. Printed via the albumen process—coa...
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...