10th Regiment, Infantry, Massachusetts, V.M., from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Curator: Oh my, that’s quite a mustache! He seems… intensely serious for a tiny print. Editor: Indeed. This lithograph from 1888 is part of a series of trade cards issued by Kinney Tobacco Company, designed to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. This one depicts the 10th Regiment, Infantry, Massachusetts, V.M. Curator: Trade cards! So this little fella was tucked into cigarette packs? I’m suddenly picturing Victorian gentlemen collecting them like baseball cards. He's so serious and his stance is so stiff! It feels like they wanted to immortalize military service and elegance on a card you’d flick to win. Editor: Exactly. The late 19th century saw a boom in these types of promotional items, and military imagery was very popular. It reflects a growing sense of nationalism and a romanticized view of military service at the time, conveniently packaged with a highly addictive product. The idea that a tobacco company created this makes one pause and think about propaganda and advertising even in older eras. Curator: He is like a beautifully adorned and slightly absurd advertisement! But beyond the marketing angle, the print has something captivating about its old-timey charm, too. There’s a certain quaintness, even tenderness, in this carefully rendered image, almost mocking machismo without knowing it. Like he takes himself extremely serious, but it is being put on something small and flimsy as cardboard. Editor: Yes, the artistic choices amplify that sense of irony. The somewhat caricatured style gives the soldier an almost cartoonish appearance, contrasting with the intended image of stoic heroism. It reveals how visual culture intersects with commerce and collective identities. It's less about accurate military representation and more about crafting a desirable image to sell a product. Curator: He’s strangely adorable and slightly unsettling, all in one puff. It reminds me that what we see often hides ulterior motives, sometimes more twisted and subversive. Editor: Precisely. And art can become a powerful tool for revealing such underlying power dynamics. Thanks for pointing out these important connections.