Captain, Albany, Academy Cadets, New York, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This lithograph of a Captain from the Albany Academy Cadets was printed by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, likely in the late nineteenth century. Produced during an era of burgeoning consumer culture, the image's purpose was to associate smoking with ideals of American masculinity, specifically military service and institutional training. Note the details: the officer’s erect posture, neatly trimmed mustache, and the crisp uniform speak to the values of discipline, order, and patriotism that were carefully cultivated in military academies like Albany. The American flag in the background reinforces this connection. By circulating these cards, Kinney Brothers Tobacco tapped into the social and political climate of the time. Historians can use company records, advertising archives, and social histories to better understand the commercial strategies of the period, and the entwined relationship between consumerism, patriotism, and the military.