From the Girls and Children series (N64) promoting Virginia Brights Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1886

Editor: So this tiny artwork, dating back to 1886, is from Allen & Ginter and part of their "From the Girls and Children" series. It's a promotional print for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, can you believe it? What first strikes me is the sort of unsettling juxtaposition of innocence and... well, cigarettes. What's your take on this? Curator: Unsettling is right! I see this little Victorian girl presiding over what seems like a tiny boudoir, playing with bottles, perhaps even mimicking adult rituals. The absurdity hits me first. Imagine the social commentary, winking at societal hypocrisies about innocence and consumption. I wonder, did anyone at the time notice the strange optics of having children promote an adult product? What message did they take? Editor: I hadn't thought about it as social commentary, more of a straightforward ad, I guess! So, it could be that this wasn’t received in as straightforward a manner back then. It certainly complicates things… The details too, like the intricate chair and the miniatures behind her, almost hint at wealth, privilege, even some decadence? Curator: Exactly! And notice how her expression seems fixed, almost doll-like? The line between child and commodity is blurred. It gives the scene a surreal air. What is truly striking is the casual use of figuration as a means for a tobacco product commercial! Editor: Wow, I'm never going to look at old advertisements the same way again. The more we talk, the stranger, but also the more interesting it becomes! Thanks for this vision! Curator: And thank you for letting me see it with new eyes too. Art—even advertising art—should always challenge us, make us a little uncomfortable, no? It shakes things up, doesn't it!