Counter-Archives in
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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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Germany.

Germany.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Germany." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-3507-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

The kaiser in Spanish uniform [when?] he met the King of Spain, on his recent Mediterranean tour, Emperor William of Germany donned the uniform of a Marshal of Spain, an honorary rank which he holds.

The kaiser in Spanish uniform [when?] he met the King of Spain, on his recent Mediterranean tour, Emperor William of Germany donned the uniform of a Marshal of Spain, an honorary rank which he holds.

Photograph, 1905-06-24

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "The kaiser in Spanish uniform [when?] he met the King of Spain, on his recent Mediterranean tour, Emperor William of Germany donned the uniform of a Marshal of Spain, an honorary rank which he holds" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1905-06-24. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/df2f31b0-b62c-0132-06fb-58d385a7b928

Berchtesgaden, Aug. 1897.

Berchtesgaden, Aug. 1897.

Photograph, 1897

The New York Public Library. "Berchtesgaden, Aug. 1897" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1897. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-1424-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Emperor William II of Germany.

Emperor William II of Germany.

Photograph, 1889 - 1900

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "Emperor William II of Germany" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1889 - 1900. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c2359350-b533-0132-0b77-58d385a7b928

In the guise of his famous ancestor: the kaiser as Frederick the Great.

In the guise of his famous ancestor: the kaiser as Frederick the Great.

Photograph, 1907-09-21

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "In the guise of his famous ancestor: the kaiser as Frederick the Great. This photograph, which is being widely circulated in Germany, was recently taken by Reichard and Lindner, Berlin" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1907-09-21. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a3a80dc0-856f-0132-4838-58d385a7bbd0