Hilda Spong as Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, from the Actresses series (T1), distributed by the American Tobacco Co. to promote Turkish Trophies Cigarettes 1900

This color lithograph of Hilda Spong as Esmerelda was created in the United States as a promotional item for Turkish Trophies Cigarettes. The image creates meaning through its combination of celebrity endorsement and cultural exoticism. At the turn of the century, mass-produced advertising cards like this one were designed to be collected, traded, and displayed, turning consumers into active participants in brand promotion. Hilda Spong was a well-known actress, and the character she is playing is that of Esmerelda, the Roma street dancer from Victor Hugo’s novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". The image taps into contemporary fascination with both the stage and the romanticized idea of the ‘gypsy’. To truly understand this artwork, we would need to delve into archives of advertising history, theatre ephemera, and critical writings about cultural representation. What does it mean to consume images of people and cultures? This is a question that remains relevant today.