Counter-Archives in
Digital Spaces ⟶

Duke’s Cigarette Cards
Coins of All Nations, 1889

Case Study #1: Curation

The curated selection of photographs, prints, and drawings for each nation are chosen from the NYPL Digital Collection by doing a keyword search for the nation featured on the cigarette card. Results are narrowed down to the decades preceding and following 1889, the year Duke’s Cigarette Cards, Coins of All Nations was released.
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  • Do the curated materials share visual characteristics with the cigarette card? How are they different?
  • What is the point of view of the curated materials? What narratives are presented?
  • Does seeing the curated materials offer an alternative impression of the caricature on the cigarette card?
  • How might these images have influenced Americans’ idea of people from this nation?
  • Choose a card and create your own set of curated materials using the NYPL Digital Collections.

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Finland.

Finland.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Finland." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-3501-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

H. I. M. Alexander III. Emperor of all the Russias, Czar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland.

H. I. M. Alexander III. Emperor of all the Russias, Czar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland.

Photograph, 1885

Maclure & Macdonald Lith. (Publisher)

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "H. I. M. Alexander III. Emperor of all the Russias, Czar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, &c., &c." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1885. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-4909-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Group photo: Elsa Hakovanky (Finland), Kirsten Stabell Frederiksen (Norway), Jolan Ferenczy (Hungary).

Group photo: Elsa Hakovanky (Finland), Kirsten Stabell Frederiksen (Norway), Jolan Ferenczy (Hungary).

Photograph, 1913

Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Group photo: Elsa Hakovanky (Finland), Kirsten Stabell Frederiksen (Norway), Jolan Ferenczy (Hungary)." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1913. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-7570-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Finlanders.

Finlanders.

Photograph, 1860 - 1920

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Finlanders." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1860 - 1920. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-45e8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Group of women, each in traditional ancestral costume.jpg

Group of women, each in traditional ancestral costume.jpg

Photograph, 1860 - 1920

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Group of women, each in traditional ancestral costume" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1860 - 1920. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-b562-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99