American General Officer, 1779, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Editor: Here we have "American General Officer, 1779," created in 1888 by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, part of their Military Series promoting Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. It looks like it's made with colored pencils and printed, giving it a mass-produced feel despite the detail. It’s…stately, I suppose? But the general also looks a little uncomfortable in his uniform. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Uncomfortable indeed! He’s got that "forced portrait" vibe, doesn't he? Look at those arms crossed tight across his chest. What secrets, what battles, what mundane worries is he holding close? This image, a product of its time as a cigarette card, is really a layered artifact, a portrait of an idea *of* an American hero, mass-produced to sell tobacco. How amazing is that? Does it cheapen the legacy, or democratize it? That pattern behind him, the flat, almost decorative space… does that clash with our expectation of a powerful, three-dimensional leader? I wonder… Editor: I see what you mean. It is a weird tension, between the implied importance of the general and the very commercial purpose of the card. I guess, in a way, it reminds me of the way we use images today – everywhere, all the time, sometimes with very little connection to their original meaning. Curator: Exactly! It’s almost a meme before memes existed. A quickly-consumed image meant to evoke feelings – pride, patriotism, maybe even a desire for a “sweeter” life. Does knowing it was selling cigarettes change how you perceive the general? Does it become satire somehow? Editor: I think… yes, it does. It makes him more human, almost. A symbol being used, just like everyone else. And I hadn’t thought about it as proto-meme, but that totally fits! Thanks, I'll definitely think about this differently from now on.