Emancipation of the Russian Serfs

This trading card was used as a marketing gimmick to promote canned meat. Cards like these were given away by the thousands and traded just as baseball cards are today. Historical scenes were popular subjects for the cards—this one shows the 1861 emancipation of the serfs in Russia. Note that the caption is in French, the language of the European upper classes, including those in Russia, who would have consumed this product. The emancipation is presented as a wholly beneficial act with no strings attached. (Mary Evans Picture Library.)