Gladday Virvian, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

"Gladday Virvian" is a 1890s *trade card* depicting a stage actress of the time. The card is from the "Actresses" series, a set of cards issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote their "Sweet Caporal" cigarettes. The card features a sepia-toned photographic image of Gladday Virvian, dressed in a lavish stage costume, posing next to a chair. These trade cards are collectible and valuable artifacts of American advertising and theater history. They are currently housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.