Three Diamonds, from the Playing Cards series (N84) to promote Turkish Cross-Cut Cigarettes for W. Duke, Sons and Co.

Art Historical Context

In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies waged fierce marketing battles, and W. Duke, Sons & Co. stood out with innovative promotions like this tiny chromolithograph from their 1888 Playing Cards series (N84 Titled *Three Diamonds*, this commercial print mimics a suit from a standard deck, featuring bold red diamonds against a simple background. Sized at just 2¾ x 1½ inches, it was likely inserted into packs of Turkish Cross-Cutarettes, enticing smokers—especially young collectors—with vibrant, tradeable ephemera. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough for affordable color printing, allowed Duke's designers to produce eye-catching graphics on a mass scale, transforming everyday advertising into desirable keepsakes. These cards were part of a larger trend in "tobacco inserts," precursors to modern trading cards, which boosted brand loyalty amid competition from rivals like James Buchanan Duke's growing empire. Today, preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, *Three Diamonds* offers a glimpse into Gilded Age commerce and consumer culture. Its playful nod to gambling imagery cleverly tied into cigarettes' social allure, highlighting how ephemera like this bridged art, advertising, and collecting.

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...