Albany, from the Dancing Girls of the World series (N185) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

This is "Albany," a lithograph card from the "Dancing Girls of the World" series, created by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. These cards were originally included in cigarette packs, reflecting the late 19th-century fascination with global cultures through a colonial lens. Here, the dancer, likely a white woman in costume, embodies a romanticized vision of "Albany," or perhaps Albania, a country in southeastern Europe. Consider the layers of representation at play. The dancer's attire, though vaguely "ethnic," is a pastiche, reflecting Western fantasies rather than authentic cultural representation. This image invites us to reflect on how identities are constructed, particularly when filtered through commercial and colonial narratives. It speaks volumes about the era's attitudes toward gender, performance, and the exoticization of foreign cultures. The dancer's expression is one of performance, a display crafted for consumption. This image, small as it is, holds a mirror to the complex ways in which we create, consume, and misunderstand one another.