Grace Palotta, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 7/16 × 2 1/2 in. (3.7 × 6.4 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
63.350.220.245.1430
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Grace Palotta, from Actresses series (N)*, a tiny albumen photograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Company to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes Measuring just 1 7/16 × 2 1/2 inches, this captures the alluring actress Grace Palotta, embodying the era's fascination with theater stars as glamorous icons. These cards were tucked into cigarette packs as collectible incentives, transforming everyday tobacco into a gateway for fans to amass images of celebrated women. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and sensitizing i...
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...