The Accumulative Instinct, from the Snapshots from "Puck" series (N128) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Art Historical Context

In this colorful commercial lithograph, a well-dressed man in a top hat and overcoat enters a modest parlor from the left, arms outstretched in greeting. A woman in a pink dress stands beside a striped armchair, cradling a baby who clutches a small object while the trio exchanges animated glances. Soft pinks, beiges, and muted greens fill the scene, with printed dialogue in blue lettering above the figures and a small framed picture on the wall behind them. Titled *The Accumulative Instinct*, this 1888 print belongs to the Snapshots from “Puck” series (N128) produced by Knapp & Company for W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a promotional trade card for Honest Long Cut Tobacco. The sheet measures just 2½ by 4⅜ inches, typical of the era’s advertising ephemera distributed with tobacco products. Such cards blended humor from the popular magazine *Puck* with everyday domestic scenes, encouraging collectors to save the entire series. Today it forms part of the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering a glimpse into late-nineteenth-century print culture and marketing.

About the Artist

Knapp & Company|W. Duke, Sons & Co. (American|American) · 1870 | –1920 |

New York and Durham, N.C.|American, New York