Molly Fuller, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Editor: Here we have "Molly Fuller, from the Actors and Actresses series" printed between 1885 and 1891. It’s a delicate sepia print from Allen & Ginter, quite small…almost feels like a keepsake. It’s a portrait, but seems different than the grand paintings of the time. What makes this unique, in your opinion? Curator: It's important to consider its origin: a cigarette card. Think about that mass production, the industrial printing techniques involved in churning out thousands of these images. How does that contrast with, say, a unique photographic print made with careful hand? This wasn't intended as high art; it was designed to be consumed and then often discarded with the pack. Editor: So the materiality itself defines it? Curator: Precisely! This is also labor, and it is wrapped in a growing culture of consumption. These were cheap materials reproduced en masse as premiums in a newly industrial tobacco market. We also need to note this image served the economic interests of Allen & Ginter. Can you see that difference in the materials versus a salon portrait? Editor: I can. The mass-produced aspect gives it a totally different context, almost… disposable, unlike a unique photograph that was treasured. Thinking of its intended use changes how I see the image itself and how I understand Molly Fuller's place in it all. Curator: Exactly! Seeing art this way is important; it takes art off the wall and puts it into daily practice and within the economy of life and leisure. It is a tiny but loaded piece of material culture. Editor: Thank you. I’ll definitely remember to look at the broader methods of making next time!