Card Number 32, Baker, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Looking at this, I'm immediately struck by how soft and vulnerable the woman appears. There’s a kind of subdued longing in her expression. Editor: Indeed. Let's delve into this piece. We're looking at "Card Number 32, Baker," from the "Actors and Actresses" series, part of an albumen print collection from the 1880s by W. Duke, Sons & Co. These cards were inserted into Cross Cut Cigarettes packs. Curator: So, it's advertising, but elevating itself with what seems like... genuine artistic choices, no? It’s interesting that this object served to sell cigarettes but used female beauty as its selling point. What does that mean in terms of historical gender dynamics and marketing strategies? Editor: The cards reflect a very specific historical context, right? This was an era of burgeoning consumerism, the rise of celebrity culture, and obviously, very different social norms around the marketing of tobacco products, as well as image distribution. Curator: Precisely! Seeing her shoulder bare like that is deliberately sensual. The woman is objectified as a commodity. In that pose and in the photograph as a whole she is reduced to being another possession for consumers of tobacco products. Editor: I agree; but also, the images also gave these women visibility, offering them a presence in the burgeoning mass media of the time. Consider also the collecting mania the cards generated—were these men investing or further objectifying? Curator: These kinds of considerations certainly don't exculpate the gender imbalance, I'll say, in terms of access to representation and financial remuneration. Still, I recognize this collection offers a potent way to access an important visual historical perspective. Editor: Absolutely. The cards provide a window into the social and cultural values that prevailed, and raise challenging questions about the public role of images. They certainly provide rich avenues to question the gender and consumer issues raised within. Curator: I’ve learned to look beneath the beauty here. It provides opportunities to excavate deeper conversations surrounding women’s visibility, even commodification, at the intersection of art and society. Editor: I agree, the dialogue is rich and reveals a great deal about the politics of imagery at that historical moment.