Assistant Adjutant-General, United States Army, 1886, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This chromolithograph, Assistant Adjutant-General, United States Army, 1886, was made by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. It is printed on a small piece of paper, and the production process is a fascinating example of early mass media. Chromolithography used multiple limestone blocks, each inked with a different color, to create a layered image. The result is a vibrant, detailed picture, but it's also a product of industrial-scale printing. The card would have been included in cigarette packs, incentivizing repeat purchases, and building brand loyalty. This ties directly to the era's burgeoning consumer culture, where even military authority could be packaged and sold. The material—cheap paper, offset printing—belies the complex relationship between commerce, patriotism, and the everyday rituals of consumption. It challenges our conventional expectations, asking us to consider how art, advertising, and ideology intertwine in the most unassuming of objects.