Minnie Redwood, 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
63.350.220.245.1502
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Minnie Redwood, from the Actresses series (N)*, a petite albumen photograph produced by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes Measuring just 2½ × 1⅞ inches, this tiny portrait captures the alluring presence of actress Minnie Redwood, one of many theater stars featured in this popular series. Inserted into cigarette packs as collectible trade cards, these ephemera items fueled a collecting craze among Americans, blending celebrity culture with commercial savvy. The albumen process, a hallmark of 19th-centur...
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...