Knapsack, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 5) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

This small card, made around 1900 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, is chromolithography on paper. Chromolithography is a chemical process, using multiple printing plates to achieve a colorful image. In this case, it renders a woman in profile, as though seen in a framed picture hanging from a knapsack. Consider the ingenuity of this image, and the many stages required to make it. From the original design to the preparation of the printing stones, to the press operators who would have churned these out by the thousands. These were included in cigarette packs as a novelty, a tiny token of value. Cigarettes, like these cards, were also products of mass manufacture. Together, they speak volumes about the rise of consumer culture, the democratization of images, and the labor required to make it all possible. So, next time you encounter a seemingly trivial mass-produced image, think about the complex layers of production and consumption it represents.