Miss Sheridan, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This small card was printed by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. It belongs to a series of actress portraits and was made in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. Such promotional materials reflect the social and cultural landscape of the Gilded Age when the rising consumer culture increasingly relied on celebrity endorsements. The image of Miss Sheridan, likely a popular stage actress of her time, would have been instantly recognizable and associated with glamour and success. Kinney Brothers were cannily leveraging these associations to promote their product. The mass production of images like this one also indicates an important shift in the relationship between art, commerce, and the public. To understand the full implications of this shift, we can turn to business records, theatre reviews, and other historical documents. Understanding the social and institutional context of art like this helps us understand its meaning.