Duke’s Little Joker – Turkish Cross-Cut Cigarettes – W. Duke, Sons & Co. (1888) – Vintage Lithograph Poster Print

Duke’s Little Joker presents a wonderfully eccentric combination of typography, caricature, and commercial design. A grinning, bald-headed face emerges from a field of finely hatched lines, its exaggerated eyes and mischievous smile giving the image the unmistakable character of a theatrical joker. The boldly rendered Gothic lettering above and below the figure reinforces the playful visual language, while the limited black-and-white palette gives the small design an unexpectedly sophisticated graphic quality.

Issued in 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., the image was part of the company’s Playing Cards series (N84), a set of 53 trade cards created to promote its cigarettes. The series was produced in versions advertising both Duke brand cigarettes and Turkish Cross-Cut Cigarettes, with the Joker card serving as an advertisement for the Duke brand. The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies the cards as commercial color lithographs and notes that they were issued in New York and Durham, North Carolina. Beyond their advertising purpose, the cards are fascinating examples of the elaborate graphic ephemera used by American tobacco companies during the late 19th century, when collectible cards became an important part of cigarette marketing.

 

🖨️ Print features:

– Made with museum-grade archival paper for excellent printing fidelity and vibrant color reproduction

– Paper weight: 189 g/m2

– For indoor use only

– Care instructions: If the print does gather any dust, you may wipe it off gently with a clean, dry cloth.

– Please note: Due to the production process of these posters, please allow for slight size deviations with a tolerance +/- 1/16″

 

🚚 Fulfillment, Shipping, and Return Policy:

– Printed and shipped from the U.S.

– Ships in a sturdy mailing tube, frame not included

– As our items are unique and made to order, we can only accept a return or exchange in the event that an item arrives damaged or misprinted. We cannot accept returns if you order the wrong size or change your mind. Any return requests must be made within 14 days of receiving the order.

 

💬 Questions? Looking for something else, or want something in a different size? Feel free to reach out anytime; we’ll see what we can do!