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

This chromolithograph of a "Matelot" or sailor, comes from a series of "National Dances" issued as trade cards by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in the late 19th century. These cards were inserted into cigarette packs as collectibles, and this series aimed to depict various national dances. The image creates meaning through its depiction of a stereotyped figure of a dancing sailor. Consider the cultural context: the late 19th century was a time of increasing globalization and growing interest in diverse cultures. Tobacco companies like Kinney Brothers capitalized on this by producing collectible cards that romanticized and exoticized foreign cultures, reducing the complexity of national identity to a single dancing figure. These cards tell us a great deal about the social conditions of artistic production. They were not created as high art, but as commercial ephemera, and are a window into the popular imagination of the period. By researching the Kinney Brothers and the history of tobacco advertising, we can better understand the meaning of this work.