Six Clubs (black), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies like W. Duke Sons & Co. revolutionized by inserting colorful collectible cards into cigarette packs, sparking a national craze among enthusiasts, especially children. This petite chromolithograph, *Six Clubs (black)* from the Playing Cards series (N84 dates to 1888 and exemplifies Duke's innovative marketing for their popular brand. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, it was designed as an affordable, eye-catching insert, transforming everyday smoking into a gateway for collecting. Produced via commercial color lithography—a cutting-edge technique that allowed vibrant, multi-hued reproductions on a mass scale—this ephemera captures the six of clubs in stark black tones against a simple background. Chromolithography's precision mimicked fine art while enabling cheap production, making high-quality imagery accessible. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, it highlights the era's fusion of commerce and popular culture, where playing card motifs evoked games, leisure, and a touch of gambling allure. Today, such cards offer a window into Gilded Age consumerism and the roots of modern trading card hobbies, preserved as charming artifacts of advertising history.

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...