E.H. Freeth, from the Sea Captains series (N127) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1887

This small card was printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co. around the turn of the century, using offset lithography, to promote their Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Far from traditional art materials, here we have industrial materials. The nature of the printmaking process is key. It allowed for mass production: images like this were included in packages of tobacco. The visual impact relies on crisp lines and flat areas of color, efficiently rendered for quick consumption. The image itself—a portrait of sea captain E.H. Freeth—is less important than the way it circulated, becoming a collectible token in a vast network of commerce. We might consider the laborers involved in the tobacco industry, as well as the printers who made the cards. While the portrait itself presents a figure of authority, the card ultimately speaks to the power of mass production and consumer culture. Thinking about materials, making, and context allows us to consider how the dynamics of labor and class play out in this small artifact.