Infantry of the Line, Turkey, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal 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
Burdick 218, N224.600
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of19th-century American advertising with *Infantry of the Line Turkey*, a charming chromolithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Military Series (N224). in 1888 to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, this card—measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches—was one of many collectibles tucked into cigarette packs. It depicts Turkish infantry soldiers in traditional uniforms, armed with rifles and swords, capturing the era's fascination with global militaries amid rising imperialism and exoticism. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commercial pri...
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...