Muleteer, Spain, 1886, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This chromolithograph, titled "Muleteer, Spain, 1886", was produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional insert for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The image is printed on thin paper, a mass-produced material designed for widespread distribution. Chromolithography, a color printing technique, allowed for relatively inexpensive reproductions. This particular print is part of a "Military Series," reflecting the 19th-century fascination with exotic locales and occupations. The choice of a muleteer, a manual laborer, is interesting. It romanticizes a working-class figure for consumption by a presumably middle-class audience. The print’s texture and color, while seemingly simple, are the result of a complex industrial process. The image was likely created by skilled laborers within the company, turning the labor of the Spanish muleteer into a commodity for sale. Consider the layers of work embedded in this small card: from the tobacco fields to the printing press, all feeding into a global system of trade and consumption. This mass-produced object challenges our ideas about the value and meaning of both art and labor.