Steamship Abyssinia, Canadian Pacific Line, from the Ocean and River Steamers series (N83) for Duke brand cigarettes 1887

Curator: This colorful print, created around 1887, hails from a series of promotional trading cards distributed by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It features the Steamship Abyssinia, which was part of the Canadian Pacific Line. Editor: It's immediately striking how this image is divided – almost like two separate portraits. One is the almost romantic portrait of a woman and the other showing a very sturdy vessel riding what looks like somewhat choppy water. Curator: The contrast is interesting, isn’t it? These cards were aimed at consumers. The Abyssinia itself represents technological progress, global trade routes and increasing immigration to places like Canada or the United States. Editor: And how interesting to couple this progress with a classical portrait. The woman's headscarf almost echoes images of idealized ancient Roman figures, connecting this 'modern' ship with ideas of imperial ambition. But note also how demure she seems – a figure promising safe and comfortable passage, rather than some brash statement of modernity. Curator: Exactly, the composition certainly serves a dual purpose, doesn't it? On one hand, a straightforward advert, yet on the other, feeding into prevalent cultural values and power structures. The Canadian Pacific Line, with the British flag present, plays heavily on ideas of established colonial power. Editor: I keep circling back to the ship itself, look at how rigidly the artist paints the churning water. I think the ship signifies safety, commerce, while that rigid water represents some chaos, maybe, or the unknown. Curator: Right, and how the image circulated matters too, given how W. Duke, Sons & Co., the American Tobacco Company, promoted this and others like it as incentives to buy their products and therefore advance that company's financial growth. Editor: Thinking about it now, this trading card’s value system becomes clear – promoting not just travel or technology but embedding all that within narratives of empire, trade, gender, and class. It's more than meets the eye at first glance. Curator: It's definitely fascinating to unpack the layers within something as simple as a trading card. It speaks to a broad, complex story about global power structures in the 19th century.