Comin' Thro' the Rye, from the Illustrated Songs series (N116) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1893

Editor: So, this print is called "Comin' Thro' the Rye," created around 1893 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It’s from a series of illustrated songs used to advertise tobacco. The initial feel is very…nostalgic. It depicts a couple amidst tall grass and flowers. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: Ah, yes! It's funny how something as simple as an advertisement can unlock a whole world of sentiment, isn’t it? I think about those summer days when everything feels drenched in warmth and a sort of innocent escapism. The colors themselves are very telling. Editor: How so? Curator: The soft pastels evoke a sense of gentility, a retreat from the harshness of the world. Then, there’s the choice of subject: a couple caught in what seems to be a private moment. We are almost peeking in, don’t you think? It's a moment lifted from the poem, immortalized in a way for mass consumption. Tobacco and romance. Strange pairing! Editor: I never considered the sense of intrusion. That’s a great point. Given the era, how do you think viewers at the time would have perceived this image? Curator: Good question. I wonder if, in a world becoming increasingly industrialised, images like these were a kind of balm, a fantasy of simple rural life, of romance unsullied by modernity. Or were they simply lured in by pretty colours for a hit of tobacco? Editor: Interesting how advertising can capture complex cultural desires. Curator: Precisely. It is a naive, almost childlike picture. Art imitating song and selling tobacco: a story for a different era!