Mabel Santley, 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
63.350.220.245.1640
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with this petite albumen photograph of actress Mabel Santley, part of the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's "Actresses series" (N245). Issued to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes these trading cards were collectibles tucked into cigarette packs, enticing smokers—especially men—with glamorous portraits of stage stars. At just 2½ × 1⅞ inches, this card exemplifies the era's clever marketing, blending celebrity allure with everyday commerce during America's Gilded Age. Kinney Brothers, a pioneering tobacco firm, produced these chromol...
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...