Letta Meredith, 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
63.350.220.245.1298
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, tobacco companies like Kinney revolutionized advertising with colorful trading card series tucked into cigarette packs. This petite albumen photograph, *Letta Meredith, from Actresses series (N)*, issued in 1890 to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, exemplifies the trend. Measuring just 2½ × 1⅞ inches, these cards were collectibles that turned smoking into a gateway for amassing celebrity portraits, capitalizing on the era's fascination with vaudeville and theater stars. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts, delivered the sharp, lumin...
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...