Lillian Jox, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

This small card, a photograph of Lillian Jox, was produced by the Wm. S. Kimball & Co. as part of their Actresses series of cigarette cards. The photograph itself would have been made using a wet collodion process, which was popular at the time for its relative speed and cost-effectiveness. This involved coating a glass plate with a light-sensitive emulsion, exposing it in the camera, and then developing it immediately. The resulting negative could then be used to make multiple prints on paper. But the real story here is the card itself. These cards were essentially promotional material, slipped into packs of cigarettes to stiffen them and entice consumers. They represent the industrialization of image-making, with photography being harnessed to the logic of mass production and consumer culture. The countless hands that were involved in the process, from the photographer to the factory workers who printed and packaged the cards, are a reminder of the labor that goes into even the most seemingly trivial objects. It’s a reminder that even a small card like this has a complex material and social history.