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

Curator: This is "Miss Shall," a photograph from the "Actresses" series, produced around 1890 by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as promotional material for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Editor: My first impression? Constricting. Both literally, in that corset, and figuratively—she seems very posed, manufactured. The image feels stiff despite her attempt at relaxed posture. Curator: Precisely. Consider the cultural context. These actresses were selling not just cigarettes but ideals of beauty and femininity in a rapidly changing society. They’re caught in the transition from Victorian morality to a burgeoning consumer culture. Miss Shall becomes a commodity. Editor: Absolutely. Let’s look at the materials: a photograph, reproduced as a print on thin card stock, churned out en masse. What labor went into creating this image? From the growing, harvesting and curing of tobacco to the performer who posed in the studio, to the army of workers mass-producing it on such a large scale for wide distribution. Consider also, the material itself of the corset, used as tool of coercion onto her very body. Curator: And consider how her image, replicated and circulated so widely, impacted understandings of gender and performance at the time. She is not just Miss Shall but a symbol, an idea of feminine allure carefully crafted for a male gaze within consumerist systems. Editor: I am intrigued by the fan she’s holding. Mass produced or bespoke? How was its fabric produced? How are we to appreciate it now given the context? Curator: Good questions to prompt in listeners. Perhaps it adds an air of sophistication. These actresses occupied an interesting space – celebrated performers yet often regarded with social skepticism. Their constructed persona became deeply entrenched in public consciousness, forever entangled with class anxieties. Editor: The power dynamics are clear, aren't they? A male-dominated industry, using female performers' images to sell its products. It's a snapshot of a capitalist system already perfecting ways of exploitation. Curator: Looking closely at her image after having this exchange reminds us about intersectionality, reminding me just how art becomes a space of so many voices layered at once and that, as producers and consumers, we are all enmeshed in the image as artifact of history. Editor: Precisely. I hope our discussion gives our listeners a clearer and richer understanding of the very hands and materials used, that are hidden and invisible behind even what seems to be the most innocent of artworks.