Mlle. Lanteline, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Editor: This is an intriguing print from 1890 titled "Mlle. Lanteline," part of the Actresses series by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. She is dressed in elaborate costume; she looks like some allegorical figure with a sense of looking toward the future. I'm interested in its purpose as advertisement... What stands out to you? Curator: It is fascinating how mass media borrows from the lexicon of high art, and vice versa. Notice how Mlle. Lanteline is presented almost as a deity, doesn’t she strike you as an allegorical figure, perhaps, "Hope" or "Liberty"? How does the halo-like fan behind her head and the upward gaze play into that feeling? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it like that, but you're right! The upward gaze certainly contributes. So, in buying a pack of cigarettes, are people implicitly buying into this elevated ideal that Lanteline represents? Curator: Precisely! Images tap into our collective consciousness, building cultural associations over time. What kind of cultural values or collective longings might Lanteline embody for viewers of this advertisement in the late 19th century? What is interesting is to also understand why those specific figures appeal more than others, don’t you think? Editor: I never considered that advertisements could be so loaded with symbolism, especially for just cigarettes! It makes me see advertising – and our responses to it – in a new light. Thank you! Curator: Absolutely, the world of images constantly renegotiates shared symbolic language. I’ll think of Mlle. Lanteline next time I look at art!