Private, 2nd Artillery, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 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
Burdick 218, N224.138
Tags
Art Historical Context
This small but vivid commercial color lithograph from 1888 belongs to the Military Series (N224), one of many collectible card sets produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Measuring just 2¾ by 1½ inches, the card portrays a Private of the 2nd Artillery, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, standing at attention with sword in hand. Such images were tucked into cigarette packages as premiums, encouraging customers to save and trade the cards while subtly associating the brand with discipline, patriotism, and martial valor. Color lithography allowed tobac...
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...