Ground Hog, from the Jokes series (N87) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints|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
63.350.204.81.43
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Ground Hog, from theokes series (N87, a diminutive yet delightful commercial color lithograph produced W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with George S. & Sons. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this card was designed as an insert for Duke brand cigarettes, part of a popular series featuring humorous vignettes. The tags—Food, Men, Dining— at a lighthearted joke likely centered on a groundhog in a culinary context, capturing the playful spirit of tobacco trade cards that turned everyday packs into collectibles. Chromolithography, the medium...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|George S. Harris & Sons · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...