Card Number 322, Empire Group, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 322, Group*, from the *Actors and Actresses* (N145-7), produced by W. Duke, & Co. in the 1880s. This albumen photograph—measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches—features a poised portrait of a female actress, capturing the allure of theater stars who captivated audiences during the Gilded Age. Issued inside Duke Cigarette packs, these cards were savvy marketing tools, encouraging collectors to buy more packs to complete sets and turning smokers into enthusiasts of popular culture. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts, were the gold standard of photography in the era, delivering sharp details and rich tones in a compact format ideal for ephemera. Duke's series highlighted glamorous performers, blending celebrity portraiture with commercial promotion and reflecting the rising fame of women in vaudeville and stage acting. As part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection—a treasure trove of printed Americana—this card offers a window into how tobacco companies shaped consumer habits and preserved fleeting cultural icons. (178 words)

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...