Card Number 29, Miss Trowbridge, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Card Number 29, Trowbridge*, from *Actors and Actresses* series (N145-1). Issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to their Cross Cut Cigarettes, this petite albumen photograph captures the portrait of actress Miss Trowbridge. just 2½ × 1⅜ inches, it was designed as collectible ephemera—small, glossy cards tucked into cigarette packs to entice smokers and spark a collecting craze among enthusiasts. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites sensitized to silver salts, were the gold standard for sharp, detailed reproductions in the late 19th century. Here, the medium highlights Trowbridge's elegant features, embodying the era's idolization of theater stars. Duke's series tapped into Gilded Age fascination with actresses as glamorous icons, blending celebrity culture with shrewd marketing. These cards not only boosted sales but preserved fleeting moments of stage history. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection—a treasure trove of printed ephemera—this card reveals how commerce and photography intersected to shape popular entertainment. A tiny window into tobacco's promotional past and women's rising visibility in the spotlight.

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...