Two dancers with high kick, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Two Dancers with High Kick*, lively albumen photograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Actresses series (N245 Produced to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes this tiny card—measuring just 2½ × 1⅞ inches—features two energetic female performers captured mid-leap in a bold high-kick pose. Albumen prints, coated with egg whites for their sharp detail and warm tones, were ideal for these mass-produced inserts, making everyday cigarette packs a gateway to glamour. Issued during the Gilded Age boom in collectible trade cards, Kinney Brothers revolutionized marketing by enclosing these ephemera in cigarette packages starting in the late 1880s. The Actresses series tapped into America's theater craze, showcasing vaudeville stars and dancers as symbols of modernity and allure. Such cards fueled a collecting frenzy, blending commerce with popular culture and reflecting the era's shifting views on women in performance. Today, preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this piece highlights ephemera's enduring value. Far from disposable, it offers a snapshot of entrepreneurial ingenuity and the performative spirit of fin-de-siècle entertainment.

About the Artist

Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011

**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...