Lillian Russell, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This 1890 "trade card" features a portrait of American actress Lillian Russell, a popular figure of the Gilded Age. It was created by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Russell is depicted in an elegant gown, a common way to showcase the opulence of the era. The trade card is a prime example of the use of celebrity endorsements in advertising, a practice still widely used today. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City houses this small-scale photograph, measuring only 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 inches.