Marie Rostelle, 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
63.350.220.245.1586
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Marie Rostelle, from the Actresses series (N245)*, a petite albumen photograph issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. These tiny trading cards—measuring just 2½ × 1⅜ inches—were tucked into cigarette packs as collectible incentives, sparking a craze among enthusiasts. Featuring glamorous portraits of stage stars like actress Marie Rostelle, they captured the era's obsession with theater luminaries, blending celebrity culture with commercial savvy during America's Gilded Age. Printed via th...
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...