Kaiserin Augusta, Germany, from the Famous Ships series (N50) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1895

This small card of the Kaiserin Augusta, Germany, from the Famous Ships series was created for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. These cards were immensely popular at the time, reflecting a society deeply engaged with notions of progress, power and global reach. The image is a portrait of a German warship; we must consider this through the lens of the German colonial project and rising militarism. What did it mean to circulate images of warships within a culture of cigarette smoking, especially as global tensions were intensifying? Who was consuming these images, and what attitudes or desires were they cultivating? The Kaiserin Augusta becomes a potent symbol, laden with the weight of national identity, imperial ambition, and the looming specter of war. The mundanity of the cigarette cards normalizes the growing military presence. They tap into and shape a collective understanding of power, progress, and the complex, often brutal, realities of empire.