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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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Republic of France.

Republic of France.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Republic of France." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-352d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

French Foreign Legion, 2nd Regiment, 1913.

French Foreign Legion, 2nd Regiment, 1913.

Photograph, 1913

The New York Public Library. "French Foreign Legion, 2nd Regiment, 1913" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1913. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-e51a-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

A Deauville -- sur la plage.

A Deauville -- sur la plage.

Photograph, 1902

The New York Public Library. "A Deauville -- sur la plage" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1902. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-196c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Kyrle Bellew.

Kyrle Bellew.

Photograph, 1875 - 1911 (Questionable)

Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. "Kyrle Bellew" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 2020. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-0182-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Eclipse.

Eclipse.

Photograph, 1912-04-12

Atget, Eugène, 1857-1927 (Photographer); Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991 (Photographer)

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Eclipse" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1912. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/aab6327f-91d3-2afa-e040-e00a18067af4