Colonel, 6th Regiment, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small card depicting a Massachusetts Colonel was printed by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The chromolithographic process, a method of color printing using multiple lithographic stones, allowed for mass production and widespread distribution. While seemingly simple, consider how many hands this little card passed through. From the artists who designed the image, to the skilled lithographers who prepared the stones, to the factory workers who printed and packaged them, the card represents a complex web of labor and industry. Its inherent qualities of mass production and commercial distribution are central to its meaning. The card's existence speaks to the burgeoning consumer culture of the late 19th century, where art and advertising became intertwined. It challenges traditional distinctions between art and commercial ephemera, prompting us to consider the social and economic forces that shape our visual world.