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

This photograph of the Major Sisters comes from a series of actress portraits made by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, probably in the late 19th century. These images were originally included in packs of Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. In that era, the burgeoning mass media was creating a new kind of celebrity, and the rising advertising industry was quick to make use of it. Here, the sisters are dressed theatrically, but they are also being presented as aspirational figures to the public. What’s interesting is the way that this commercial image attempts to co-opt the aura of the stage. It’s not high art, but neither is it simply a commercial transaction. It occupies a cultural space somewhere in between. To fully understand this image, we might investigate the history of the Kinney Brothers, the biographies of the Major Sisters, and the cultural norms of the time. That kind of research helps us understand the complex social forces at play in what might otherwise seem like a simple advertisement.