Ten Hearts (red), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.204.84.24
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Ten Hearts (red)*, a charming chromolithograph from the N84 Playing Cards series produced by W. Duke, & Co. in 1888. This petite card, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, was one of millions inserted into Duke brand cigarette packs as a promotional giveaway. Tobacco magnate James B. Duke pioneered this strategy to boost sales in a competitive market, transforming everyday smokes into collectible treasures that appealed to adults and children alike. Crafted via color lithography—a revolutionary printing technique that allowed ma...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & 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...