Card Number 129, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This card, number 129 from the Actors and Actresses series, was produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. using photographic and printing techniques to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. These cards were not created as high art, but rather as a canny marketing strategy, using the then-popular form of the calling card to entice consumers. The sepia-toned image, mass-produced through industrial processes, depicts an actress in costume, her identity secondary to her alluring image. Consider the contrast between the actress's craft and the mechanics of the card's production. The card embodies the commodification of image, a symbol of how celebrity and entertainment were becoming packaged and sold. The material reality of this card, its size, the paper it’s printed on, and its original function, all speak to a broader shift in society towards mass production and consumer culture. By understanding its material context, we can appreciate how even seemingly trivial objects like this challenge traditional distinctions between art, craft, and commerce.