Kosaka, from National Dances (N225, Type 1) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

This small chromolithograph, made by Kinney Bros. Tobacco Company, belongs to a series called “National Dances”. It reflects the late 19th-century fashion for collecting and classifying images of world cultures. The card depicts a woman identified as a "Kosaka" in traditional dress. The Kinney Brothers company produced these cards as promotional items inserted into cigarette packs, part of a broader advertising strategy that linked smoking with cosmopolitanism and worldly knowledge. These cards, like other forms of popular imagery at the time, contributed to the construction of stereotypical representations of different ethnic groups. The images were circulated through a system of mass media that served to confirm existing social hierarchies. To understand the social context, one might look at market research, company records, and popular magazines from the period. This approach helps us understand the politics of imagery and the social conditions that shape artistic production.