Daisy Murdoch, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This is a promotional card for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, made by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, showing the actress Daisy Murdoch. These cards were produced in the United States around the turn of the 20th century, during a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization. Tobacco companies often used images of actresses, sports figures, and other celebrities to market their products and to associate them with glamour, success, and leisure. This card presents Murdoch as an object of desire, conforming to the period's aesthetics, while also hinting at the social mobility that the stage could provide. The cards also reveal how advertising became a vehicle for circulating and reinforcing ideas about beauty, gender, and social status. The Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company was one of many businesses that used promotional cards to build brand loyalty. Studying such ephemera helps us to understand the complex relationship between consumer culture, entertainment, and social identity in this period. Through careful research in archives and libraries, we can learn more about the cultural values embedded in such seemingly trivial objects.