Mdme Savarin, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Editor: This is an advertisement card from 1890, part of the Actresses series for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, featuring Mdme Savarin. It's a sepia-toned photograph, giving it a delicate and vintage feel. It feels less like art and more like commercial imagery. How do you see this fitting into the art world of the time? Curator: Well, let's consider the broader context. These "actress" cards were hugely popular, and are arguably a crucial predecessor to today's influencer culture. Mass production, distribution, and the romanticism surrounding actresses combined with a growing culture of smoking meant that Kinney Brothers weren’t just selling cigarettes, but were offering access to aspiration. Editor: Aspiration how so? Curator: Think about it - they’re distributing images, readily available to a growing middle class, suggesting through these glamorous figures, that upward mobility is within reach and attainable. It taps into social mobility and constructing a desired identity, a visual "shortcut" to taste. How is Madame Savarin styled here? Editor: She's in a gown, gloves, there’s lace… very upper-class. It makes sense they're tying that image to the consumption of their product. I suppose it’s interesting how commercial interests literally shaped the imagery people were consuming on a daily basis. Curator: Exactly. So, we can look at this card not just as a promotional piece, but as a reflection of broader socio-economic forces at play in the late 19th century, particularly with new advertising means and how fame was circulated through visual materials. The democratized image also suggests possibilities in personal identities. Do you agree with this reading? Editor: Definitely. I always thought of trading cards as such small things, but framing them within this larger context reveals their role in constructing both commercial culture and social aspiration. I hadn’t really thought about the role images like this have on culture in general.