Louise Dillon as "Queen of the Fleet," from the series Fancy Dress Ball Costumes (N73) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

Editor: Here we have "Louise Dillon as 'Queen of the Fleet'," a print from 1889, made for Duke brand cigarettes. The material details in the hat, the compass, make me think of stage design, not something of value, more like a play on reality. What jumps out at you? Curator: For me, the fascination lies in understanding how mass production intertwined with representations of status and identity. Cigarette cards like these weren't just promotional items; they were conduits of cultural values, actively constructing ideals of beauty and class. Editor: So, it's less about the subject, Louise Dillon, and more about what the image itself is doing? Curator: Exactly. Think about the choice of "Queen of the Fleet." Who was this figure meant to appeal to? And how does the materiality of the card itself—cheaply produced yet carefully designed—speak to the aspirations of the working class who might be consuming these cigarettes? This relates to consumption habits, too, and where and when these cards were circulated. Editor: I never considered that! I always thought of them as just pretty images, but they're really doing a lot of work to construct ideas about gender and status. Curator: Precisely. And let's consider the labour involved in producing these cards, from the artists creating the images to the factory workers printing and packaging them. Where were the tobacco farms from which the raw product came, and who cultivated it? Editor: This definitely gives me a new way of viewing everyday images. It’s not enough to appreciate what it shows, but also how and why it came into being, the system behind it all. Curator: Agreed, paying attention to materiality helps us question the social structures embedded in seemingly innocuous objects.