Card Number 199, Cora Winslaw, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: So, this is “Card Number 199, Cora Winslaw,” from the Actors and Actresses series, created in the 1880s by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It's actually a promotional image for Cameo Cigarettes. It seems very… intimate and a little voyeuristic, almost staged. What symbols do you see emerging in a work like this? Curator: The staging itself is a powerful symbol. Consider the careful construction of an "off-guard" moment. It reminds us that even supposed candid shots are often infused with societal expectations and performance. Note the revealed stocking. In its time, that would symbolize both transgression and feminine power, displayed for a mass audience via the cigarette card. Editor: So, you're saying the slight impropriety was intentional, part of the marketing? Curator: Precisely. Cigarettes themselves carried associations with modernity and freedom, especially for women. By linking their product to a slightly risqué image of a celebrated actress, Duke, Sons & Co. tapped into those desires. Look at the positioning of the seated figure holding Cora’s leg—who might this stand in for symbolically? Editor: Perhaps the average consumer? Subtly admiring, aspiring to that lifestyle? Curator: Exactly. And the image becomes a microcosm of desire and aspiration, packaged for mass consumption. The layers of artifice here speak volumes. Editor: It’s almost unsettling when you realize how much meaning they crammed into such a small image! I hadn't considered the implications of early advertising in this way before. Thanks! Curator: And I’ve enjoyed unpacking the coded symbolism that was, and is, often associated with feminine marketing, even today.