Card Number 540, Van Den Bros., from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

This small card was printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co., around the turn of the 20th century, using a photomechanical process known as halftone. The image, depicting three actresses, would have been photographed and then re-photographed through a screen, breaking the image into tiny dots. These dots were then etched onto a metal plate, which could be inked and used for printing. The resulting image is not as sharp as a photograph, but it allowed for mass production, in this case as promotional material for Duke Cigarettes. The real innovation here is that the company recognized the value of celebrity endorsements in driving consumer culture, and they found a way to make high-quality images readily available for distribution. This little card demonstrates the convergence of photography, printing technology, and marketing savvy, all fueled by the booming tobacco industry. It reminds us that even seemingly disposable objects can tell us a great deal about the culture and economy that produced them, and how that production relied on novel artistic and manufacturing techniques.