Number 6, An Electric Stroke, from the Tricks with Cards series (N138) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1887

Curator: This drawing is a card from a series called "Tricks with Cards," part of a tobacco advertising campaign by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1887. The card we are observing here is called "Number 6, An Electric Stroke," and you can find it at the Met. Editor: It feels theatrical, almost vaudevillian, don't you think? The drama of the dark background with these cards bursting forth. Like a visual trick of the light. Curator: Exactly. And the “electric” element fits in perfectly within the context of its era—new technologies electrifying our imaginations and popular culture. The lithographic print even manages to convey a kind of shimmering energy. Editor: Symbolically, a lot is at play here too. The hands are anonymous, powerful, acting like agents of fate, or maybe fortune. The cards themselves, particularly their suits, suggest games of chance and the interplay of risk and desire. Even the "stroke" feels laden with potential hidden meanings, referring to gesture and a touch of ingenuity. Curator: The fact that the hands are de-identified truly enhances the trick, allowing viewers to imagine themselves in this captivating act. A magician's hand one moment, an Everyman's the next. It could be our stroke of brilliance that will propel our dreams into reality. Editor: It really makes you wonder about this kind of pervasive branding back in the day. Tobacco cards felt like miniature portals into these exciting worlds. In a way, they elevated the act of smoking to a sensory spectacle filled with whimsy and grandeur. It also makes one think how a once "innocent" piece of marketing history carries traces of an industry that's now known to be problematic and lethal. Curator: Good point. It’s precisely this combination—visual trickery meets consumerism meets deeper cultural narratives—that keeps me so fascinated. Each of these tiny drawings whispers to us a complicated story about aspiration, power, and our human relationship with belief and magic. Editor: Definitely leaves you feeling that even an image from a bygone era could reveal truths that we all could still reflect on today.