The Old Oaken Bucket, from the Illustrated Songs series (N116) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1893

W. Duke, Sons & Co. produced this lithograph card around the turn of the century, as part of a series to promote their Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Lithography is a printmaking process that allows for mass production. It involves drawing an image with a greasy substance onto a stone or metal plate, then treating it so that ink adheres only to the drawn areas when printed. This chromolithograph employs multiple colors, adding complexity to the printing process. Originally, lithography would have demanded skilled labor in the preparation of the stones or plates, the application of the design, and the printing process itself. The image on the card idealizes rural life, but it’s important to remember that it was only made possible through industrial methods. The card’s shiny surface and vivid colors, hallmarks of mass production, stand in sharp contrast to the simpler scene it depicts. Cards like these blur the line between art and advertising, demonstrating the increasingly intertwined relationship between creativity, commerce, and consumption in the late 19th century.