Playing Buffalo Bill, "Just see me lassoo the dude," from the Terrors of America set (N136) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1888 - 1889

Editor: This colorful little print, "Playing Buffalo Bill," was made around 1888 to 1889 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as an advertisement for Honest Long Cut Tobacco. The colors are bright and charming! What stands out to you when you look at this piece? Curator: Immediately, the purpose. It's a trade card. The value isn't in the aesthetic initially, but in its function. The means of production becomes central – lithography, cheap paper, mass distribution… It served as an advertisement, a small piece of visual culture embedded in the larger context of late 19th-century industrial capitalism and, specifically, tobacco consumption. Notice how "high art" merges into "low craft". What labor was required for the drawing, then printing? Editor: That's interesting! I didn't really consider the labor of it. So, it being used to sell something is its most important attribute? Curator: Not necessarily the *most* important, but we can't divorce the image from its use and means of production. What materials were accessible? What was the printing process? Those considerations informed what this *could* be. The very existence of this image is tied to both consumption and availability of materials. It blurs lines; is it 'art' or 'advertising'? Was there an established artist or a mass production operation that made the image? Editor: I suppose I always thought of 'art' as separate from commerce. I'm seeing how linked they are. Curator: Precisely. It makes us reconsider our notions about the "value" of art itself. It encourages us to examine what we assign cultural and aesthetic value to and *why*. Editor: I'm starting to think about it in terms of who consumed the tobacco and how this imagery of "playing Buffalo Bill" might appeal to them. Curator: Exactly. We’ve only scratched the surface by questioning the function and creation of this collectible item. It is very intriguing.