Six Hearts (red), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with *Six Hearts (red)*, a charming chromolithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s Cards series (N84 produced in 1888. This tiny card, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, tucked into Duke cigarette packs as a promotional insert, enticing smokers to collect the full set mimicking a standard deck. Duke, a leading tobacco firm, pioneered these giveaways during the "cigarette card craze," blending entertainment with brand loyalty in an era when mass production fueled consumer culture. Crafted via commercial color lithography—a breakthrough technique allowing vivid, multi-hued prints at scale—this piece showcases six bold red hearts against a simple backdrop, evoking the whimsy of playing cards. Chromolithography's precision brought affordable color to everyday ephemera, transforming humble ads into pocket-sized art that appealed to collectors young and old. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, *Six Hearts* highlights ephemera's cultural footprint. These cards foreshadowed modern trading cards and baseball cards, preserving a slice of Gilded Age commerce where play and promotion intertwined. A delightful relic for history buffs!

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...