Maude Millett in Colors of New Jersey Yacht Club, from the Yacht Colors of the World series (N140) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1890

This small chromolithograph of Maude Millett, in the colors of the New Jersey Yacht Club, was distributed by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco between 1870 and 1920. The card participates in a late 19th century culture of collecting and display, as chromolithography enabled the mass production of colorful images. These cards offered entry into a world of leisure and status, yet, the growth of the tobacco industry was also deeply entwined with the exploitation of enslaved people. The image domesticates maritime culture for a consumer market. Enclosed in a decorative border, we see a fashionable woman, her clothing coordinated to the yacht club's colors. To understand the image more fully, historians delve into archives of advertising, business, and visual culture. By studying the historical context, we recognize how the art is contingent on social and institutional forces.