Zulu, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros. 1890

This is 'Zulu,' one of a series of cards trading on ‘Types of Nationalities’ issued around 1889 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. It offers a potent example of how commercial imagery circulated racial stereotypes that were imbedded in the social fabric of the time. The image presents a man identified as Zulu, an ethnic group located primarily in South Africa. But, it also presents him smoking a cigarette from the company. The card suggests smoking ‘Sweet Caporal’ cigarettes can bring about “considerable change.” It is through visual codes and cultural references that Kinney Brothers attempted to associate their product with the exoticism of foreign cultures. To understand this image fully, one must consider the history of colonialism, and the social construction of race. Historical archives, company records, and critical race theory can allow us to look at the political role of art and the social conditions that shape its production. The meaning of this art is contingent on its social and institutional context.