Two actresses holding long poles, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Curator: This is a print photograph from around 1890, titled "Two actresses holding long poles," produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as part of their Actresses series to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Editor: It strikes me as both humorous and a bit unsettling, honestly. They look somewhat uncomfortable. The overall sepia tone gives it an antique feel, but the figures and their attire are bizarrely out of place, like they are meant to evoke classical figures on an ancient urn. Curator: Yes, and we should remember that Kinney Brothers were, first and foremost, a business trying to sell their cigarettes. Using actresses to invoke a sense of luxury and aspiration in the public consciousness. The cards themselves were cheap but disposable objects, but the photographs had to offer a sense of elevated culture, high art for the everyday consumer. Editor: Absolutely, this echoes the theatrical tradition of costumed players embodying allegorical figures. Consider the "long poles"—are they meant as staffs, scepters? The backdrop features what appear to be cultural relics that could refer to various eras and places. They aren’t necessarily trying for authenticity but to evoke the idea of the antique. This kind of generalized, romantic imagery played on existing symbolic understanding in the late 19th century. Curator: The physical quality is so interesting; as a relatively inexpensive photographic print it represents democratization of visual culture. The Kinney Brothers harnessed mass-production techniques to circulate images widely. Their disposability also plays into themes of consumption, commerce, and celebrity culture in the burgeoning urban-industrial environment of the late 1800s. How were these actresses compensated? Who controlled the means of representation? The mass appeal comes with its own, unacknowledged, dark side. Editor: Very true, considering that tobacco’s consumption habits came with social as well as health implications. It also prompts thinking about how contemporary brands often use ambiguous or nostalgic imagery to generate positive feeling; these associations subtly, even subliminally, connect to our existing sense of history and personal memory. The photograph then becomes a carrier of layered significance far beyond simply advertising tobacco products. Curator: This image's relationship to production, marketing, and even early celebrity culture gives one a lot to consider when looking at what seems to be a simply designed advertising image. Editor: It’s fascinating how such an outwardly straightforward image can unlock discussions touching on so many complex and intertwined ideas about art, culture, and consumerism!