Card Number 623, Miss French, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: This is a fascinating little card from the 1880s by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It's titled "Card Number 623, Miss French" and it was created as an advertisement for Cross Cut Cigarettes, utilizing photography and printmaking techniques. There's a melancholic, almost theatrical air about her pose. What’s your perspective on it? Curator: The pose indeed telegraphs a studied performance of femininity. Consider this card as existing within a nexus of commodification. We see the objectification of women intertwined with the burgeoning tobacco industry. "Miss French" is reduced to a marketing tool, her identity subsumed by the product she promotes. Who was she beyond this card? And what were the power dynamics at play in her representation? Editor: That makes me consider her agency – or lack thereof. It's easy to forget the person when confronted with the advertisement. Was there a standard contract for figures such as Miss French or where all the decisions made at the whim of the company? Curator: Precisely. This speaks to a broader historical trend. The late 19th century was a period of intense industrialization and the rise of consumer culture, with women frequently used in advertising to reinforce societal expectations and patriarchal norms. Note the composition – carefully constructed, visually appealing. The softness almost masks its purpose: to entice and sell. Does it challenge those norms? Editor: I initially saw her beauty, but now I'm much more critical about the forces at play behind the scenes of this image. Thanks to that shift, I wonder about every pretty picture I've been exposed to throughout my life and to be vigilant. Curator: This heightened awareness is exactly the objective: a deep understanding of power dynamics, identity, and representation in art – it is an urgent tool in the context of modern consumption, exploitation and misinformation.