2nd Corp Cadets, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small promotional card was printed by the Kinney Tobacco Company in the late nineteenth century. These cards were distributed with packs of Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The image depicts a soldier in the uniform of the 2nd Corps Cadets, a Massachusetts volunteer militia. The uniform is rendered in careful detail, from the red jacket with gold buttons to the gray trousers and black cap with its jaunty red feather. What does it mean to put this figure on a tobacco card? The answer is that it’s not just about sales. In the late nineteenth century, military service was often seen as a civic duty, and images of soldiers like this one helped to promote patriotism and national unity. It is a social commentary on the role of the military in society and the ways in which it was being idealized through commercial imagery. Studying printed ephemera like this image is essential if we want to understand the broad social and cultural context for art. These everyday objects can reveal as much as the acknowledged masterpieces.