Puzzle Card Number 14, "Interlace" Puzzle, from the Jokes series (N118) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (10.8 × 6.3 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
63.350.206.125.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with *Puzzle Card Number 14 "Interlace" Puzzle from the Jokes seriesN118). Issued around 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote their Honest Long Cut Tobacco, thisutive chromolithograph—measuring just 4¼ × 2½ inches—was designed as a collectible giveaway. Part of a popular trend in tobacco trade cards, it doubled as an interactive game, inviting users to solve the "Interlace" puzzle through clever visual interplay, blending entertainment with brand loyalty. Printed by Armstrong & Co. using commercial color lithography, the card showcase...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Armstrong & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...