Card Number 392, Maggie Claire, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

This card, made around 1900 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., uses photography and printmaking to sell cigarettes. The photo shows Maggie Claire, an actress, in a dynamic pose on the gymnastic rings. The sepia tone is typical of early photographic printing processes, where the image is chemically developed to create a stable, lasting picture on a paper card. The choice of such a modern technology reflects the rise of mass media and consumer culture at the turn of the century. Cigarette cards like these were essentially miniature advertisements, leveraging celebrity images to promote brands, in this case, Duke's Cameo Cigarettes. Inexpensive to produce at scale, they speak volumes about the relationship between entertainment, advertising, and the burgeoning capitalist economy. They blur the boundaries between art, commerce, and popular culture.