Private, 8th Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, 1887, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Curator: This small but fascinating piece, currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is titled "Private, 8th Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, 1887," part of the Military Series. It was issued around 1888 by the Kinney Tobacco Company to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Editor: It’s… unexpectedly delicate! For a tobacco advertisement, it's quite serene, almost melancholy. He looks so clean and polished in his uniform; all ready to... well, stand there and promote cigarettes, I suppose! There’s such a stillness to him. Curator: Indeed. The image offers an interesting commentary on the intertwining of militarism and commercialism in late 19th-century America. These trade cards circulated widely, normalizing military service while also boosting capitalist ventures. Note the attention to detail in the uniform and equipment, suggesting a celebration of military prowess, though also possibly nodding at regimentation, standardisation and therefore conformity. Editor: It’s funny how such a tiny drawing, because that’s how I perceive this print—like an embellished drawing on thin paper—can speak to grand issues! He just stands there looking off, completely unaware of the commentary brewing around him over a century later! I find myself wondering what he would have thought about us scrutinising him like this. Curator: The figure's profiled stance is noteworthy too. The decision to show the soldier in profile perhaps highlights the regimentation inherent to military life, an individual subsumed into the larger structure. Also, this was produced at a time when new immigrants in New York might not fully understand that this image was trying to tell them, which makes this simple ad more nuanced than it would seem on the surface. Editor: Oh, that is compelling and grim, but what would he have felt being part of it all? Would the honor of defending, be something he found real pride in? Also, he would probably not think of himself being used for "normalization" purposes as you would say—or more crassly; just an advertisement of tobacco! He would just smile away. Curator: Precisely. Ultimately, what we have is a complicated layering. What appears at first as merely quaint is enmeshed in the historical, social, and ideological textures of that era. Editor: Makes me wish I had a Sweet Caporal cigarette now. Not to celebrate tobacco, but to maybe sense some link in time with this serious private.