Card Number 76, Lillian Russell, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the glittering world of Gilded Age theater with *Card Number 76, Russell*, a charming albumen photograph from the Actors and Actresses series (145-2), issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in the 1880s to promote their Cut Cigarettes. This portrait (just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches) captures the iconic American soprano and actress Lillian Russell, called the "American Beauty for her stunning looks and commanding stage presence in burlesque and musical. These cigarette cards were savvy marketing ephemera, tucked into tobacco packs to entice collectors and boost sales amid rising cigarette popularity. Produced using the albumen process—photographic paper coated with egg whites for sharp, detailed prints—they blended emerging photography with celebrity culture, turning performers like Russell into household names. As part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this piece highlights how everyday advertising artifacts preserved snapshots of 19th-century entertainment stardom. Today, it offers a window into women's rising visibility in the performing arts and the dawn of mass-produced imagery, reminding us how a simple trading card could immortalize fame.

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...