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

Goodwin & Company produced this advertisement for Old Judge Cigarettes, featuring Miss Ella Morrison, as part of a series portraying actors and actresses. These cards were inserted into cigarette packs, capitalizing on the burgeoning popularity of both smoking and celebrity culture. The image offers us a window into the commodification of femininity and fame. Miss Morrison is presented in a soft, idealized light, surrounded by flowers, embodying a delicate beauty that aligned with the period's aesthetic ideals. These cards served not only to promote cigarettes but also to create and reinforce particular images of women in the public eye. The actresses featured here were not just performers but also figures onto which aspirations and fantasies were projected. This conflation of image, identity, and consumerism reflects a complex interplay between personal identity and commercial representation that continues to resonate today.