Miss Fish, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Curator: What strikes me immediately about this Goodwin & Company photographic print, "Miss Fish, from the Actors and Actresses series" of 1886 to 1890, is its intimate scale. It feels like a stolen glance. Editor: Yes, it has that voyeuristic feel of an Edwardian postcard! The sepia tones amplify that feeling, as though unearthed from a time capsule of naughty secrets. Is it just me, or does she look a bit… uncomfortable? Curator: Possibly! She's part of a larger set made to be included in cigarette packs, so that explains the sizing and subject matter. A collectible, not fine art in the way we typically think about it. Editor: Aha! Suddenly the stockings and garter make sense. A symbol of… commerce, wrapped in layers of performative femininity. The chair with the fur throw becomes less about luxury and more about staging. A kind of manufactured intimacy, intended to titillate. The averted gaze; so classic, so… pointed! Curator: There's an interesting tension between art and advertisement. Goodwin & Co. understood that sex sells, but they also understood portraiture as a means of immortalization. It's no accident that actresses were chosen. Editor: Actresses as both commodities *and* goddesses! The Victorians loved a bit of both, didn’t they? Perhaps this little card reveals the cultural scaffolding upon which celebrity is built. We crave connection to something "real", yet presented to us with smoke and mirrors. In the frame itself, in fact! Curator: Absolutely, the photo captures a specific moment in cultural history, reflecting attitudes toward women, performance, and commerce during the late 19th century. It’s risqué for the time but viewed now, carries the weight of change, maybe loss. Editor: It’s funny how such a small, seemingly trivial image can unlock so many thoughts about image-making and desire. Gives you a lot to consider while, oh I don’t know, enjoying a smoke? Curator: Precisely, it's the layers within a small artifact that make it truly engaging. A little glimpse of bygone aesthetics that invites larger conversations around women in advertising.