Race Rock, from the Lighthouses series (N119) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Art Historical Context

In 1889, visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art can marvel at *Race Rock*, a petite commercial color lithograph from Lighthouses series (119), produced by The Giles Company for W. Duke, Sons & Co This tiny card—measuring just 2 3/8 × 4 1/16 inches—depicts the sturdy Race Rock Lighthouse off New York's Long Island, a beacon guiding mariners through treacherous waters. Issued to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco, exemplifies the era's innovative marketing, where beautifully illustrated trade cards were tucked into cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthrough in late-19th-century printing, allowing vibrant, multi-layered colors on inexpensive paper. Duke's series tapped into America's fascination with lighthouses as symbols of resilience and romance, blending artistry with commerce. Classified as ephemera in the museum's Drawings and Prints department, this piece from The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection reveals how everyday advertising became cultural artifacts, preserving glimpses of Gilded Age ingenuity. Today, *Race Rock* invites us to appreciate not just its scenic charm, but the clever fusion of industry and imagery that shaped consumer culture. A small gem with big stories!

About the Artist

The Giles Company|W. Duke, Sons & Co. (American|American) · 1870 |1800 –1920 |1900

New York and Durham, N.C.|New York, NY