Private, 2nd Battery, New York State Militia, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Look at the delicate lithography of "Private, 2nd Battery, New York State Militia," a print from 1888 by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. The subject exudes military pageantry of the era. Editor: Well, "pageantry" is one word. I immediately noticed the slightly caricatured presentation, the stiffness of the pose, like a puppet, it’s more about promotion, I would guess, than military prestige? Curator: Quite right! It’s a promotional item for Sweet Caporal cigarettes, one in a series. What I find compelling is the production – consider the industrial lithographic process, transforming this individual into a reproducible commodity, packaged with tobacco. Editor: Yes, the act of distribution here, I imagine children and adults alike collecting these, trading them; what was the perceived social value in disseminating these types of images? Who did it serve? Curator: These were collected, traded, and pasted into albums. It fed a Victorian appetite for collecting and display. Think about it; the circulation of imagery influencing perceptions, fostering patriotic sentiment... were there other objectives, in turn? Editor: The composition itself draws from an earlier tradition of formal portraiture but is repurposed here for commercial means; a fascinating example of the shifting functions of art and imagery in late 19th century culture. The cigarette cards themselves are physical objects, commodities produced and consumed, aren’t they? Curator: Precisely. The tactile experience is crucial to grasp. Cheap paper stock. Printed en masse in eye-catching hues to promote brand visibility. Not ‘high’ art, perhaps, but significant. How did these visual strategies then build perception and behavior? Editor: I am left pondering about the role of these objects within the broader visual culture of the time, and its lasting echoes in our society today. Curator: Yes. For me, thinking of the labor behind its mass creation gives depth to the historical narrative of this somewhat unassuming piece.