Colonel, 9th Regiment, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Ah, isn't this just dapper? I see here a print titled "Colonel, 9th Regiment, Massachusetts, V.M." It’s from the Military Series, released around 1888 by the Kinney Tobacco Company. Quite the way to hawk cigarettes, I must say! Editor: The severity of his gaze juxtaposed with the sweetness of a 'Caporal' – there's an interesting tension already. It is very diminutive too, almost miniature, amplifying the hyper-stylized figure. The material effect is what interests me – let’s unpack the print qualities and this rather uncanny image. Curator: Indeed! The stiffness is palpable, wouldn't you say? Posed like a tin soldier, he is, but what I love is the hint of self-importance etched onto that little mustachioed face. I bet he takes himself incredibly seriously, this colonel, as he ponders, perhaps, his next packet of Sweet Caporals. Editor: The rigidity of the stance contrasts so deliberately with the rather flamboyant trim – a certain absurdity arises. It’s as though we're dissecting 19th-century masculinity via semiotic excess. And consider this: prints like these circulated widely. Their availability alters our perception of military and status. The serial nature undermines, complicates the idea of the heroic individual. Curator: Oh, that's clever. See, I'm more drawn to the humor—the caricature-like quality. He looks a bit like a stern, judgmental bird! I imagine these little cards being traded and collected, slipped into pockets with the cigarettes. Do you think folks actually took these characters seriously or did they offer an escapist fantasy from military pomp? Editor: Fantasy certainly, yet I resist dismissing them as simple "escapism." This format provides access to something previously reserved, idealized, to the wealthy only, for example—it reduces social distance. Each carefully placed button, each ornate flourish…it's all exaggerated yet strangely deflated in its commodification. The print is so insistent on control that the caricature comes into being, and something spills, accidentally! Curator: Perhaps. It also illustrates how we memorialize ourselves in fleeting gestures. Cigarettes enjoyed and then a card discarded, or treasured! This little print immortalizing our colonel... a rather poignant detail. Editor: Precisely. This offers us a new entry into 19th-century iconography.