From the Sunny South series (N157) for Duke Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Large trade cards from the "Sunny South" series (N157), issued in 1890 by the American Tobacco Company to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco, Sweet Lavender Tobacco, and Old Gold Cigarettes. In 1890, W. Duke & Sons combined with four other tobacco companies- Allen & Ginter, W.S. Kimball & Company, Kinney Tobacco, and Goodwin & Company- to create The American Tobacco Company. The new conglomerate produced 90% of the cigarettes made in the United States in 1890. During this period, many tobacco insert card series were published in a number of variations. Each series contained the same images but each variation advertised a different brand of tobacco within the American Tobacco Company's holdings. The "Sunny South" collection at the Metropolitan Museum contains cards advertising Duke Honest Long Cut Tobacco, Kimball's Sweet Lavender Tobacco, as well as Kimball's Old Gold Cigarettes. The "Sunny South" series depicts African American subjects in poses of racist stereotypes of the era.