Arms of the State of Vermont, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Curator: The chromatic range of this illustration, from the muted background to the emblems in ochre and maroon, is truly stunning. Editor: I find this small trade card of the Arms of the State of Vermont quite charming, actually. There's a pastoral serenity despite being a state symbol from 1888, distributed by the Kinney Tobacco Company. The cow… it almost feels like it doesn’t belong in an official emblem. Curator: Belonging, however, presupposes an ideal configuration. Structurally, note the layering: the single pine dividing a skyline of graded tones of sky and mountaintop above three yellowed shocks of wheat and a domesticated cow, each juxtaposing wilderness and settlement. The elements are divided, bisected vertically by that rigid tree. Editor: It does feel like Vermont defining itself through industry and nature. Agriculture is definitely idealized, though, if we consider labor practices. And Kinney Tobacco produced it as promotional material—connecting Vermont's identity to consumption habits. It’s such an overt intertwining of state and commercial interests! Curator: Surely, you observe how the rigid shield form constrains this landscape and the graphic elements inside, and its visual relationship with the pink motto ribbon—all contained and carefully placed within the borders of the rectangle. The palette enhances the structural composure of this token. Editor: Right, and consider that the motto "Freedom and Unity" takes on added complexity. Free to choose Sweet Caporal Cigarettes? United by... tobacco? It makes one wonder what "freedom" meant within the specific social and economic landscape of the late 19th century, amid industrial expansion. Curator: Well, analyzing how this miniature advertisement operates compositionally offers its own historical lens on that period, highlighting popular semiotic conventions in graphic form, I think. The stag is an ideal conclusion, the ornament and crown of this miniature work. Editor: A perfect way to consider the image through multiple perspectives and unpack the cultural values that were deemed worthy of representing Vermont to its public and the nation, at the time, through something as commonplace as a cigarette card!