Annie Leslie, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Editor: So this is "Annie Leslie, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes," made between 1886 and 1890 by Goodwin & Company. It's a small print, a promotional item, really. It strikes me as oddly charming, but the costume and pose seem a bit…theatrical, even for an actress. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Theatrical indeed! Consider the cigarette card itself. A tiny, mass-produced object, yet imbued with the potent symbolism of fame, desire, and fleeting pleasure. Annie Leslie, perched jauntily on that faux-classical pedestal, becomes an icon of the Gilded Age, a commodity herself, much like the cigarettes being sold. Note how her smile, though bright, feels somewhat…performed, almost vacant. Editor: That's interesting. It didn't strike me as vacant at first, but now I see that performative aspect. What does the setting contribute to this iconography? Curator: The studio backdrop—vaguely pastoral, indistinct—acts as a stage. It separates Annie from any concrete reality. It emphasizes that this image is about illusion, aspiration. She’s presented as both accessible—through the ubiquity of the cigarette card—and unattainable, a figure elevated (literally!) by the pedestal and her profession. The slightly bizarre costume amplifies that separation from the everyday, too. Editor: So it’s a constructed image playing with ideas of celebrity and consumption? I guess I was seeing it as a simple portrait, but it’s much more loaded than that. Curator: Exactly. These small objects, seemingly insignificant, are powerful repositories of cultural values and desires. They tell us stories about who we admired, what we craved, and how we constructed our identities through images. Editor: That's a perspective shift for me, I won't see these cigarette cards the same way again. Thanks for that! Curator: My pleasure. Recognizing these layers of meaning enriches our understanding not just of art, but of the society that produced it.