Private, 9th Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes

This chromolithograph of a New York National Guardsman was produced around 1887 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item. Chromolithography, a color printing technique, was a marvel of mass production at the time. Consider the layers of labor involved: from the artists who created the original image to the factory workers operating the printing presses. The material itself – paper – became a vehicle for both art and advertising, blurring the lines between commerce and culture. These cards were designed to be collected, traded, and consumed along with cigarettes. The image projects an idealized vision of military service. It’s important to remember this image was made possible by the machinery of industry, and intended to generate profit. It's a testament to the power of images to shape perceptions and fuel consumer desire. A reminder that even seemingly simple objects can reveal complex relationships between art, industry, and society.