Isabelle Irving as "The Little Housewife," from the series Fancy Dress Ball Costumes (N73) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

This chromolithograph of Isabelle Irving as “The Little Housewife” was produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as one of a series of collectible cards included in packs of Duke brand cigarettes. The printing process, which allowed for mass production, used multiple lithographic stones, one for each color. The card’s material and its means of dissemination are telling. Chromolithography enabled colorful images to circulate widely. That fact, combined with its use as a marketing tool for tobacco, speaks volumes about the rise of consumer culture in the late 19th century. Consider the image itself: it presents an idealized, playful vision of domesticity, with its jaunty pincushion hat complete with scissors and pins. Yet this very image was itself a commodity, produced through industrial processes and distributed as a lure to purchase yet another commodity. So, while the card may seem like a quaint artifact, it actually provides a window onto the complex relationship between labor, gender roles, and consumption that defined the era. It challenges traditional notions of both art and craft by uniting them in the service of mass marketing.