Mabel Rumels, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Curator: I'm struck by the sheer audacity of this little portrait. There's Mabel Rumels perched, a confident gaze, baseball cap perched jauntily on her head…almost a dare. Editor: This is "Mabel Rumels, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co." dating to 1889. It’s interesting—one of a series originally included in cigarette packs. A small photograph meant for mass distribution. Curator: Mass distribution...right into the pockets of eager smokers! Imagine happening upon this, tucked away like a secret little message. The photograph feels intimate, the lighting highlighting her figure...it makes you wonder about her agency, her choice in being represented like this. Is this burlesque? The edges feel blurred, like a forgotten dream. Editor: That’s a keen observation. The commercial context frames it, but it also reflects late 19th-century commodification and representation of women in performance. Actresses, athletes, public figures...all fodder for collecting. It’s significant, isn't it, how women's images were so readily available for public consumption, yet their actual power was so limited. Curator: Absolutely, the simultaneous visibility and erasure of women in that period feels so potent here. Editor: The drawing quality of the printing enhances that too, somehow – there is both a realism and a romanticization, or even a kind of idealization. The small format normalizes her and also...shrinks her. Puts her in your pocket. It speaks to how even fleeting images become embedded with ideologies, reflecting and reinforcing cultural values regarding beauty and fame. Curator: I see your point... yet I still feel drawn to something playful in her eyes. Like she’s in on the joke and using the format as a way to self-express. She almost seems to be taunting the viewer – what do you really think of me? What power can a baseball cap actually possess? Editor: That is something to ponder on… It highlights the ongoing negotiation between women and representation that echoes even today. The tensions, the subversions, and the persistent quest for recognition and empowerment. Curator: Perhaps that's why this image holds such a quiet strength. These commercial artworks carry silent volumes. Editor: I agree. A pocket-sized window into another era—complicated, contradictory, and endlessly fascinating.