Cadet of Military Academy, United States Army, 1886, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Editor: This is a fascinating piece. It’s a print from 1888, created by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. The title is “Cadet of Military Academy, United States Army, 1886, from the Military Series.” It seems to have been included in cigarette packs, meant to advertise ‘Sweet Caporal’ cigarettes. The figure, a cadet, is stylized. What can you tell me about the broader context of its production? Curator: What strikes me most is its very function as advertising, an artifact designed for immediate consumption and disposal. We need to consider the social implications. These cards were essentially rewards contained within mass-produced, widely-consumed objects. Consider the tobacco industry, and the labor required for its expansion. This card flattens this labor into a consumable and collectible image of Americana, effectively transforming the cadet, an embodiment of national duty, into a selling point. Editor: So you are focusing on the cigarette company itself, rather than the cadet in uniform. Curator: Precisely. Let’s not disregard how the materials themselves – the paper, the inks, the printing process – contribute to the message. These materials were cheap and easily produced, enabling a flood of images into circulation. Also consider what it means for the cadet, an idealised version of young man, to appear in an item so strongly associated with leisure and perhaps even vice? Editor: I hadn’t really thought about the process or the actual purpose. That totally reframes the work for me. The consumption element and how it was created on cheap materials definitely makes me view it differently! Curator: Good. Questioning those values inherent in production brings a lot of critical tools. By looking at process and function, hopefully you have developed another vantage point from which to engage with artworks.