Flat Bottomed Sailboat, from the Types of Vessels series (N139) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Art Historical Context

In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies like W. Duke, Sons & Co. revolutionized with colorful trade cards and inserts, turning everyday products into collectibles. This charming *Flat Bottomed Sailboat from the *Types of* series (N139), was issued in 1889 promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco Produced as a commercial color lithograph by Knapp & Company, the small card (just 2 7/16 × 4 3/16 inches) depicts a sturdy, shallow-draft vessel ideal for calm inland waters or coastal trade, evoking the era's fascination with maritime life. Lithography, a key printing innovation of the time, allowed for vibrant, mass-produced images that captured fine details like the boat's sails and rigging in vivid hues. As ephemera—those fleeting promotional items now treasured by collectors—this piece highlights how businesses blended education and allure, showcasing vessel types to appeal to smoking enthusiasts. Part of The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it preserves a slice of Gilded Age commerce and nautical heritage. Today, it reminds us of tobacco's cultural footprint and the artistry of advertising, bridging everyday history with the romance of the sea.

About the Artist

W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...