Russell, 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
63.350.220.245.1607
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Russell, from the Actresses series (N)*, a petite albumen photograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes This tiny portrait (just 2½ × 1⅞ inches) captures the allure of a celebrated actress—likely the iconic Lillian Russell—gazing confidently at the viewer. Part of a collectible series tucked into cigarette packs, it exemplifies the era's trading card craze, where tobacco companies lured customers with glamorous images of stage stars. These ephemera cards were more than mere promotions...
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...