The Washington Duke company flourished after the end of the Civil War in 1865. Based in Durham, North Carolina, it became one of the five manufacturers of cigarettes to merge in 1890 to form the American Tobacco Company. This controlled 90% of the American market and was one of several companies to eventually be broken up by anti-trust legislation. One of the companies spun off was R J Reynolds. The publication of cigarette cards, then as now, was always an advertising medium. This set is of the States and Territories of the United States and their Governors. They include portraits and views of the region on the front and a map with descriptive text on the verso. This example was most probably issued as a souvenir album and bought with coupons acquired with the cigarette packs. A fine clean example.