Three Hearts, from the Playing Cards series (N84) to promote Turkish Cross-Cut Cigarettes for W. Duke, Sons and Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Three Hearts*, a charming chromolithograph from W. Duke, Sons &.'s Playing Cards series (N84 Produced in 1888 to promote their Turkish Cross-Cut Cig, this petite card—measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches—depicts a trio of red hearts in a playful, card-game motif. As ephemera from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it captures the ingenuity of American tobacco giants who distributed these collectibles inside cigarette packs to build brand loyalty. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commer...

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...