End Man / Old Pint Comfort, from the Jokes series (N118) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1890 - 1893

"End Man / Old Pint Comfort" was issued around 1880 by W. Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco. This is chromolithography, which was cutting-edge commercial printing technology at the time. This card is from a series called "Jokes," but what kind of joke is it? The "end man" refers to the role in minstrel shows. Minstrelsy was a popular form of entertainment that mocked African Americans through grotesque caricature. It was deeply racist and perpetuated harmful stereotypes. The image of a man drinking alcohol, labeled "Old Pint Comfort," reinforces another stereotype of the working class. Tobacco companies often used imagery that appealed to working-class men, but the use of minstrelsy imagery reveals the deep racial divisions in American society at the time. Understanding this requires social and institutional history. We can look at archives of minstrel show ephemera and advertising history to understand the context in which this card was produced and consumed. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.