Card Number 60, L'Alemande and Davis, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: Here we have “Card Number 60, L'Alemande and Davis, from the Actors and Actresses series," dating back to the 1880s. It's a promotional print for Cross Cut Cigarettes by W. Duke, Sons & Co. I find the figures oddly charming, despite the strange context. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Charming is one word for it! For me, this little card sparks a whole carnival of thoughts. The sepia tone wraps everything in a lovely nostalgic glow. The ladies' costumes are delightful, as if ripped from the pages of a slightly off-kilter fairytale. Editor: A fairytale, really? I see vaudeville, but maybe that’s my own baggage. Curator: Both, perhaps! It's interesting to think about how marketing latched onto celebrity endorsements so early on. What a concept to sell dreams of stage and footlights alongside nicotine! Are we being seduced, even now, by that same old story? Tell me, does it work? Do you suddenly crave a smoke? Editor: Definitely not! I’m too busy admiring those frilly, almost architectural skirts. They remind me of tiered wedding cakes, bizarrely enough. Curator: Ha! A wedding cake—a perfectly decadent analogy. Maybe that's the true connection: an appeal to simple pleasures, the theatricality of life, and maybe, just maybe, a small act of rebellion. Though, from what, I couldn’t possibly say. Editor: Well, I certainly see more than just cigarette advertisement now! All that wrapped up in one little card! Curator: Exactly! Art hides in the most unexpected corners, doesn't it? It’s taught me to see things, and also to keep some secrets of my own, just in case the world is not ready to see what I see...