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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Peru.

Peru.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Peru." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-3527-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Picking cotton with Chinese labor on irrigated land at the foot of the Andes, Vitarte, Peru.

Picking cotton with Chinese labor on irrigated land at the foot of the Andes, Vitarte, Peru.

Photograph, 1900

Underwood & Underwood (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Picking cotton with Chinese labor on irrigated land at the foot of the Andes, Vitarte, Peru" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1900. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/5e66b3e9-1f21-d471-e040-e00a180654d7

Peruvian hunter.

Peruvian hunter.

Print, 1901

The New York Public Library. "Peruvian hunter" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1901. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-17ca-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Studio portraits of unidentified Peruvian women.

Studio portraits of unidentified Peruvian women.

Photograph, 1860 - 1880

Courret Hermanos (Photographer)

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Studio portraits of unidentified Peruvian women" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1860 - 1880. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c8f19e80-bfd5-0134-663a-00505686a51c

Unidentified male.

Unidentified male.

Portrait, 1860 - 1899

Courret Hermanos (Photographer)

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Unidentified male" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1860 - 1899. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2f2c0da0-2289-0132-1b2e-58d385a7bbd0

Peruvian woman with covered face.

Peruvian woman with covered face.

Print, 1901

The New York Public Library. "Peruvian woman with covered face" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1901. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-17cb-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99