Colonel, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Editor: This print, dating to 1888, depicts a Colonel from Massachusetts, and it’s part of a series created by the Kinney Tobacco Company to advertise Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. What I find interesting is the flattening of the figure – it reminds me of paper dolls. What do you see here? Curator: Well, consider this "Colonel" not as an isolated figure, but as a mass-produced object, a piece of advertising, a small part in a vast network of capital. Look at the material: printed card stock, designed for cheap distribution. It reflects the booming tobacco industry and its methods of enticing consumers through collectible imagery. How does understanding its function as advertising influence how we perceive the artistic skill employed? Editor: It shifts my perspective, definitely. The Colonel’s portrait isn't really about him as an individual but as a marketing tool, a commodity, packaged to sell something else entirely. Curator: Precisely. We must look beyond its immediate aesthetic appeal and explore the industrial processes and social motivations behind it. What’s the relationship between the product being advertised – cigarettes – and the militaristic imagery they're using? Is there perhaps a construction of masculinity being sold along with the tobacco? Editor: Now I see that the Colonel is more than a simple portrait; it represents the industrial strategies and socio-economic forces present at the time. It's a product *about* products! Curator: Exactly. So what initially appeared as a straightforward image actually opens a window into a whole complex of labour, consumption, and representation. A humble advertisement, yet potent with cultural information. Editor: I see how important it is to consider an artwork’s production and its original context; thanks for the insight! Curator: My pleasure! There's always more than meets the eye.