Apple, from the Fruits series (N12) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1891

Curator: This is a piece from a larger series created in 1891 by Allen & Ginter, prominent cigarette manufacturers. Titled "Apple, from the Fruits series (N12)," this print, now housed at The Met, exemplifies the use of trade cards as both advertisement and art. Editor: Trade card, huh? My first thought was less "puff piece" and more... fairytale illustration. Something unsettling about that little girl peeling the apple, eyes closed. It's like she’s caught in a dream or a trance. Curator: The image evokes a certain sense of idealized childhood. Such imagery was employed to promote the company’s wholesome image. Though on closer inspection, there is an artificial quality. It's a constructed domesticity designed for a specific consumer demographic. Editor: Constructed, definitely. And unsettling, even now! She seems almost hypnotized. And the color palette, very limited, contributes to the odd, dreamlike vibe. Curator: These cards weren't meant to be scrutinized like fine art, of course. They were meant to be collected and traded, ephemeral objects meant to catch the eye amidst the clamor of a competitive market. Their role as instruments of advertising cannot be dismissed, because this dictated their design and dissemination. Editor: That's true. But they inadvertently capture something poignant. Like the ghost of a feeling. I can't quite explain. What's striking is the intimate gesture of peeling, the quiet labor, the focused innocence that could veer, at any second, into knowing sin... or simple bedtime. Curator: It is the beauty of ephemera. The way the most humble and seemingly trivial of objects becomes historical artifact over time, offering perspectives into our past often absent in the more prestigious pieces. Editor: So it holds that contradiction, doesn’t it? Commerce trying to suggest an intimacy that ultimately seems haunted. Which in turn suggests that all advertising participates in a little bit of cultural hypnotism, whether it likes it or not!