From the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 5) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This is a promotional card for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, from the Actors and Actresses series, produced by Allen & Ginter. This card belongs to a larger cultural moment, when the burgeoning tobacco industry used images of actresses to market cigarettes to a broad public. We see a woman in what appears to be a theatrical sailor’s costume, leaning casually against a bollard with a coil of rope. She is gazing towards a sea which fills the backdrop. While ostensibly a promotional image, these cards were collected and traded. In this context, consider the role of the actress, someone whose identity is both intensely public, and yet also mediated through the roles they play. Does the artist depict an empowered vision of womanhood, or does it reinforce traditional gender roles and expectations? Consider the ways in which popular culture shapes and reflects societal attitudes toward gender and identity. This small card offers a window into the complex interplay between commerce, representation, and identity in the late 19th century.