1889 Newsboy Tobacco Cabinet Card 98 HELENA MODJESKA Actress Falk Fredonia KS For Sale

Up for sale is a fantastic, highly collectible piece of 19th-century tobacco and theatrical history: an original c. 1889 N566 \"Newsboy\" Plug Tobacco premium cabinet card featuring the iconic Victorian stage actress, Mme. Helena Modjeska (Card No. 98).This historic card features a beautiful portrait originally captured in 1889 by the legendary celebrity photographer Benjamin Falk at his Broadway studio in New York. Rather than a standard retail portrait, this card was issued as a promotional prize by the National Tobacco Works to advertise their Newsboy chewing tobacco.What makes this specific piece incredibly unique is the bold, clean merchant stamp on the reverse side from “The Racket” store in Fredonia, Kansas. The text documents a great piece of local history, advertising that the store owners had just returned from New York with a fresh lot of Dry and Fancy Goods bought for spot cash.Condition: Good antique condition given the age and the more delicate, porous card stock used for tobacco premiums. Shows typical minor edge wear, gentle corner rounding, and authentic surface aging as clearly displayed in the photos (ruler included in images for exact physical scaling).This is a wonderful crossover item that hits multiple collector circles perfectly: antique tobacco trade cards, early theater memorabilia, 19th-century celebrity photography, and historic Kansas merchant advertising. It will be shipped securely in a rigid photo mailer to preserve its condition.