Officer, Louisville, Light Infantry, Kentucky, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small card, picturing an officer of the Louisville Light Infantry, was made by the Kinney Tobacco Company. The company used industrial printing techniques to reproduce this image as one of a series of collectible cards, given away with Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The lithographic process allowed the manufacturers to produce affordable color images, contributing to a booming culture of advertising and consumerism. Look closely, and you can see how the flat planes of color are laid down to create the full image. The process requires a highly mechanized division of labor, contrasting sharply with earlier forms of printmaking. Given the context, it is clear that the artistry here is less about individual expression than about the industrial processes of image production. As such, it’s a valuable index to late 19th century society – one in which even military authority could be packaged and sold to consumers. It reminds us that all art, however small, is embedded in social and economic forces.