Sloop Yacht, from the Types of Vessels series (N139) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1889

Curator: This promotional print, "Sloop Yacht," created around 1889 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., was part of a series of trade cards used to advertise Honest Long Cut Tobacco. These cards, vibrant color prints, often depicted scenes of American life. What is your impression? Editor: Strikingly angular and compressed, with that enormous sail dominating the composition! It feels a bit precarious, perched atop those stylized waves. The limited color palette certainly evokes a sense of age. Curator: The visual construction mirrors a shift in consumption patterns, it uses the allure of leisure and sport to create a desirable lifestyle around their tobacco products. The distribution would have been targeted, reaching specific demographics through point-of-sale placements. Editor: Let's focus on how that dramatic triangular shape formed by the sail draws the eye upward, creating a sense of dynamism, despite the scene being quite static overall. The linear quality of the printmaking technique is clearly evident. It creates both texture and definition within the limited palette of creamy white and light blue. Curator: Absolutely, and note the method of mass production— lithography – that allows detailed images to be produced cheaply and distributed widely, reflecting changes in industry at the end of the 19th century. This print also connects with debates about value—challenging what is art versus advertisement. Editor: True, but let’s go back to those formal qualities. Consider the stylized representation of the waves; they serve not as a realistic portrayal of the ocean but rather as a framing device for the yacht. Curator: The fact that it was originally intended to be discarded emphasizes that art production served the growth of consumer culture in its own right and should be interrogated under its own historical conditions. Editor: A strong perspective! For me, it all coalesces to this image with its clever semiotic tricks such as guiding your eyes along diagonal and vertical lines until your reach its subject which speaks to speed and wealth, but on close inspection, it is just ink printed on cheap paper. Curator: A poignant thought; even in its disposability, the print represents labor and production with purpose within its historical context. Editor: Exactly, both method and social setting are entwined. Curator: Well, it certainly offers a unique lens for viewing that historical moment through production!