David B. Hill of New York, from the Presidential Possibilities series (N124) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1888

This card, printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co., uses chromolithography, a color printing technique, to depict David B. Hill as a "Presidential Possibility." The image’s flat, graphic quality stems from the lithographic process. Multiple limestone blocks or metal plates would have been prepared, each carrying a different color, and then printed in succession to build up the final image. The resulting print has a distinctive layered effect, with colors blending to create a smooth tonal range, most notable in the rendering of Hill's face. The card itself is paper, a cheap, mass-produced material that reflects the purpose of the piece: advertising. These cards were included in packages of Honest Long Cut Tobacco, incentivizing repeat purchases. The labor involved in producing these cards – from the artists who created the designs to the factory workers operating the printing presses – was considerable, yet the cards themselves were ephemera, meant to be collected and traded. Looking closely at the materials and methods used to create this humble card brings us closer to understanding its place in the wider world of commerce, labor, and politics in the late 19th century.