Captain, Royal Marines, England, 1869, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small chromolithograph was printed in 1869 by the Kinney Tobacco Company, as a promotional insert for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Made from multiple layers of lithographic ink, applied one at a time using etched stones, the card depicts a Captain in the Royal Marines, resplendent in his scarlet uniform. Look closely, and you can see how the printing process has rendered the textures of the clothing, the sheen on his boots, and the glint of his sword. The company mass-produced these cards, along with other series featuring actresses, sports figures, and modes of transportation. The card’s materiality is at odds with its subject matter: the glamor of empire, now reduced to a cheap giveaway. But think for a moment about the number of hands involved in its production: the miners who extracted the raw materials for the inks, the farmers who grew the tobacco, and of course, the print workers who made the image itself. These cards were a disposable form of advertising. But today, the card stands as a reminder of the global economic system that underlay even the simplest consumer product.