Mlle. Ruhende, 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
63.350.220.245.1594
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Mlle. Ruhende* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Actresses series (N245 a petite albumen photograph designed to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Issued as collectible trading cards, these tiny portraits—measuring just 2½ × 1⅜ inches—featured glamorous actresses like the enigmatic "Mlle. Ruhende" (French for "Miss Resting"), capturing her in a poised, reclining pose. Tobacco companies cleverly used such ephemera to entice collectors, blending celebrity allure with brand loyalty during the height of cigarette culture in A...
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...