Lottie Collins, Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1890 - 1895

Editor: This is an intriguing piece – a print from between 1890 and 1895, part of the "Actors and Actresses" series by W. Duke, Sons & Co., featuring Lottie Collins. The monochrome and almost sepia tone lends a feeling of antiquity and the figure seems to dance out of history. The dress grabs my attention, its angular designs look really striking! What draws your eye to this portrait? Curator: What fascinates me are the layered meanings embedded within this small image. This seemingly simple portrait is laden with social history. Think about it – this image of Lottie Collins, famous for "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay," wasn't just art; it was essentially an advertisement included with Duke Cigarettes. Editor: So, it's more than just a portrait. It's also promotional material! Curator: Precisely. It speaks volumes about the period – how celebrity, entertainment, and commercialism were intertwining. And the very act of collecting these images was a social phenomenon, creating shared cultural touchstones through consumerism. Editor: I hadn’t considered the cigarette cards themselves as a cultural artifact. Does Lottie Collins, or even "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" have deeper symbolic resonance? Curator: Absolutely. The song itself was scandalous for its time – exuberant, suggestive, a celebration of freedom and perhaps even a challenge to Victorian prudery. Collins, by embodying this song, became a symbol of liberation and female agency, circulated through these mass-produced images. It's interesting that she is portrayed as this free-spirited, confident woman who challenged conventional notions of womanhood, further challenging us to reconsider ingrained ideas about memory and tradition. Editor: I guess I’ll never look at cigarette cards the same way again. This little card unlocks such a vast history. Curator: Indeed. And it highlights the enduring power of images to capture and transmit not just appearances, but entire worlds of meaning.