New Hampshire, from the Industries of States series (N117) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *New Hampshire* (N117), a petite commercial color lithograph produced in 1889 by W. Duke, Sons & Co This charming card from the *Industries of States* series promoted "Honest Long Cut Tobacco" by personifying the Granite State through allegorical imagery, including female nudes and shields—likely evoking classical motifs of strength, industry, and allure. Measuring just 4 3/16 × 2 1/2 inches, it was designed as ephemeral trade ephemera, handed out to entice smokers at stores or events. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing in the Gilded Age, allowing vivid, multi-color designs on cheap paper that mimicked expensive paintings. Duke's firm, a tobacco powerhouse, mastered this technique to create eye-catching series celebrating U.S. states and their products, blending patriotism with commercial savvy. Today, preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this tiny print offers a window into consumer culture's playful side. Far from disposable, it highlights how everyday ads shaped visual tastes and gender imagery, reminding us of advertising's artistic legacy.

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...