A Short History of General A. E. Burnside, from the Histories of Generals series (N114) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Smoking and Chewing Tobacco 1888

Curator: Here we have an intriguing piece titled "A Short History of General A.E. Burnside," a trade card dating back to 1888. It comes from the Histories of Generals series by W. Duke, Sons & Co., tobacco merchants. Editor: My initial impression is…quaintly unsettling. It's got this sugar-sweet pastel palette, like a nursery rhyme gone slightly off-key, punctuated by a disembodied head with some serious sideburns. Curator: Indeed. These trade cards served as miniature advertisements slipped into tobacco products. What seems "off" is perhaps the blend of portraiture and genre scene, all to promote… Honest Long Cut Smoking and Chewing Tobacco, as it says on other cards in this series. Editor: Honest? As opposed to *dishonest* long cut? I love the Victorian chutzpah. But beyond the sales pitch, there’s something genuinely weird about repurposing military figures into marketing tools. Curator: Think about it: Generals embodied notions of leadership, bravery, and, of course, masculinity. The symbol of authority is then directly associated with, and even authenticated by, tobacco. The act of consumption becomes almost patriotic. Editor: Ah, the subtle messaging! I get it. Even today, look at how beer commercials use heroic figures or narratives. Here, we've got Burnside in two registers: the stern general above, and some, shall we say, unlikely looking fellows recreating battle maneuvers. Talk about "playing" war! It all hints to the playfulness, the camaraderie of tobacco consumption. Curator: And how does the choice of General Burnside himself influence this? Consider that Burnside, despite his high rank, is perhaps equally famous for his military blunders and his… striking facial hair, a fact that is highlighted to comic proportions in his portrait here. Editor: True. His signature whiskers, right there on display. Maybe there is an additional cheeky suggestion here, associating Burnside's rather distinctive brand with that of the manufacturer of the tobacco! The portrait, even with its cartoonish qualities, cements the historical, turning it into something amusing. Curator: The print, in pastel and coloured pencil, uses both Burnside’s celebrity, however ironically, to give legitimacy to the everyday consumption of tobacco. The juxtaposition of portrait, scene, and text functions, strangely enough, as an early form of viral marketing. Editor: Marketing with a twist of historical theatre! Who knew tobacco cards could offer such insight into cultural myth-making? It definitely got me thinking today.