Old Transatlantic Side-Wheeler, from the Types of Vessels series (N139) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1889

This is Old Transatlantic Side-Wheeler, a promotional card printed by W. Duke Sons & Co. around the turn of the 20th century to advertise Honest Long Cut Tobacco. These cards reflect the complex and often troubling dynamics of American industry and identity at the time. The ship represents technological advancement and global trade, but it also evokes the history of transatlantic voyages marked by colonization, the slave trade, and economic exploitation. It's worth remembering that the tobacco industry itself was built on the exploitation of enslaved people and tenant farmers, predominantly African Americans in the Southern United States. As you look at the card, consider how it idealizes progress while obscuring the human costs and the complex power structures of the era. What does it mean to sell tobacco by romanticizing sea travel, eliding its less savory histories? This image is a reminder that even the most unassuming commercial items can reveal deeper, often uncomfortable, truths about our past.