A Short History of General John Hunt Morgan, from the Histories of Generals series of booklets (N78) for Duke brand cigarettes 1888

Editor: This is "A Short History of General John Hunt Morgan," a colored pencil print from 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It's fascinating, this mixture of portrait and caricature on something so small…almost cute despite its subject. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Its primary function was as a promotional item for Duke brand cigarettes. Think about the material reality: cheap paper, mass production, the rapid consumption and disposal of the image. This isn’t about high art, it’s about manufacturing desire and associating it with a historical figure, specifically within a very fraught social and political context. Editor: So the value lies in understanding how it was made and consumed rather than its artistic merit? Curator: Precisely. The “artwork” becomes less about individual skill and more about the socio-economic system that produced it. Who were the consumers? What did General Morgan represent to them? What role did mass-produced imagery play in shaping public perception? The medium of colored pencil drawing printed at scale allows for very broad distribution. Editor: It’s interesting to think of art not as something precious but as a tool in a much larger commercial and, possibly, ideological machine. I never considered that before. Curator: Examining the process and materials reveals the larger power structures at play. Consumption and production intertwine. This card isn't simply a portrait; it's a commodity deeply embedded in its historical moment, and prompts questions about its original utility in popular culture, and our use of it today in museums or online. Editor: This has made me think about art and its materials so differently! It’s like peeling back the layers to reveal the systems that enable their existence. Curator: Exactly. That is how we discover something truly relevant.