Card Number 110, Bessie Ferrel, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is Card Number 110 from the Actors and Actresses series, a promotional trade card issued around 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. These cards were produced at a time when tobacco companies aggressively used advertising to build brand loyalty. This image of Bessie Ferrel, an actress of the late 19th century, speaks to the commodification of celebrity and the rise of consumer culture. Ferrel is dressed in what appears to be theatrical garb, with a large hat and heavily adorned dress, and is posed in a way that emphasizes her fashionable appearance. The card cleverly uses Ferrel's fame to associate smoking Cross Cut Cigarettes with glamour and success. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, like many other museums, has become a repository for these kinds of ephemeral materials, which now offer valuable insights into the social and cultural values of the late 19th century. Studying these objects, and others like them, through careful archival research can help us to better understand the economic structures of the Gilded Age.