Poppy: Consolation, from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers (N75) for Duke brand cigarettes 1892

This small chromolithograph was created by the American Tobacco Company as part of a series to be included in packages of Duke brand cigarettes. These cards, popular in the late 19th century, served as both advertising and collectibles. The image depicts a young, white, androgynous figure nestled among poppies, the flower symbolizing consolation. This conflation of youth, beauty, and the promise of solace reflects the era's complex relationship with consumerism and idealized imagery. The so-called “language of flowers” became a coded system of communication in the Victorian era. This card uses this visual language to offer a kind of emotional transaction with its consumers, linking the comfort of smoking with the sentimental value of flowers. But what does it mean to find consolation in a cigarette? What societal anxieties were being soothed through the act of consumption? Consider how the commercial and the emotional intersect in this small, yet telling, artifact of its time.