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

This commercial card, produced around 1870 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., presents a fragmented narrative of General Leonidas Polk. The composition is strikingly divided into distinct visual fields. A portrait of Polk anchors the card, its realistic rendering contrasting with the adjacent stylized patterns and battle scene. The juxtaposition creates a semiotic tension. The patterns, reminiscent of decorative wallpaper, flank the general's portrait, abstracting the context of war into mere design. Below, the scene of fallen soldiers introduces a stark realism, disrupting the card’s decorative scheme. The ribbons bearing Polk’s name and a "Short History" further segment the visual space, as if to suggest that history can be neatly packaged and consumed. The card thus plays with representation itself, oscillating between memorializing Polk and commodifying his image for commercial ends. It suggests a challenge to any singular, fixed meaning, inviting viewers to decode its complex layering of signs and symbols.