Card 608, Mollie Fuller, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Card 608, Mollie Fuller, from the Actors and Actresses series, was created by Allen & Ginter as a promotional item for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. These cards reflect the burgeoning celebrity culture of the late 19th century, a time when mass media began to transform actors and actresses into household names. Mollie Fuller, like other actresses featured in the series, straddled the line between public adoration and the constraints placed on women in the Victorian era. Actresses were figures of fascination, but they also challenged conventional gender roles by their very presence on stage. The delicate lithography of this card presents Fuller in a soft, almost dreamlike state, a representation designed to appeal to consumers. These cards, distributed with tobacco products, also speak to the intersections of commerce, leisure, and identity in a rapidly industrializing America. What does it mean to attach a woman's image to a product meant for male consumption? It's a question of how societal values are wrapped up in a pretty little picture.