Private, 71st Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This chromolithograph, produced in 1887 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, depicts a private in the 71st Regiment of the New York National Guard. The uniform is a potent symbol, laden with cultural memory. Note the spiked helmet. This motif is not new; it evokes the ancient aspiration to power and authority through martial prowess. Consider the Roman centurions with their crested helmets, emblems of imperial might. The same impulse, the same desire to project invincibility, resonates across millennia. Yet, the meaning shifts. Here, on a tobacco card, the uniform promotes not conquest but consumption. The collective unconscious links this soldier to a lineage of warriors, subliminally associating smoking with strength and valor. The image appeals to primal instincts, engaging viewers on a subconscious level. Thus, the soldier's image transcends its immediate context. It echoes through history, a testament to humanity's enduring fascination with power and the cyclical nature of symbols.