Olive May in Arizona, from the Actresses series (T1), distributed by the American Tobacco Co. to promote Turkish Trophies Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 1/4 x 6 5/16 in. (21 x 16 cm)
Classification
Prints|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
63.350.241.1.19
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 20th-century advertising with *Olive May in Arizona*, charming color lithograph from the Tobacco Company's Actresses seriesT1). Produced in 1900 to promote Turkish Trophies Cig, this petite print (8 1/4 x 65/16 inches) was distributed as a collectible insert in cigarette packs. Featuring the actress Olive May in a Western-themed pose, it captures era's fascination with theater stars, blending portraiture with promotional flair. color lithography, perfected in the late 19th century, enabled affordable mass production of vivid, multi-hued images like this one—cre...
About the Artist
American Tobacco Company|Frederick Moladore Spiegle
**American Tobacco Company (1890–1911)** Founded on January 31, 1890, in Durham, North Carolina, by James Buchanan Duke, the American Tobacco Company emerged from the consolidation of five major U.S. tobacco manufacturers: W. Duke & Sons, Allen & Ginter, Goodwin & Company, W.S. Kimball & Co., and Kinney Brothers. Under Duke's aggressive leadership, it rapidly achieved monopoly status, controlling...