Card Number 637, Ivy Willis, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This small card was printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co., sometime between 1870 and 1920. It’s from a series promoting Cross Cut Cigarettes, and features a photograph of an actress named Ivy Willis. The card is made of paper, likely mass-produced through industrial printing. The image, sepia-toned, would have been made by transferring a photographic negative onto light-sensitized paper. The back would have been printed with an advert. These cards, cheap to make, were a form of advertising that relied on wide distribution through consumer culture. The photograph itself has social significance. Willis, dressed in a striped bathing suit, appears in a theatrical pose, framed as both a celebrity and an object of desire. The image, meant to be collected and traded, helped to fuel both the cult of celebrity, and the consumption of tobacco. The amount of work involved in the production process, from photography to printing, reflects the growth of a leisure-driven, capitalist economy. Ultimately, this card is a reminder of the ways in which art and commerce have always been intertwined, challenging distinctions between high art and the everyday.