Mlle. Pertin, Paris, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: Oh, this image is fascinating! It’s a trading card, part of the "Actors and Actresses" series by Allen & Ginter, dating from 1885 to 1891. This one features Mlle. Pertin of Paris. Editor: It has such a faded dreamlike quality. A kind of sepia-toned echo of a bygone era... There's something slightly melancholic about the overall feeling. Curator: Well, it's a photographic print, intended to be included in packs of Virginia Brights cigarettes. Hardly high art, but still, an interesting snapshot—pun intended—of the period. The figure stands in profile. Editor: Yes, that profile pose is very classical—like a Roman coin. And the gaze directed off frame evokes a sense of expectation or longing... even on something so small. I mean, think of the immense symbolism projected onto something that was essentially disposable advertising. Curator: Exactly! And consider the context: photography was becoming more accessible, but still retained a certain mystique. Using images of celebrities—even minor ones—to sell cigarettes feels very modern, doesn’t it? A portrait became almost an icon for a generation. Editor: The actress is a representation of an aspiration or perhaps an escape to Paris, through an affordable luxury like cigarettes. You almost wonder what Mlle. Pertin thought of being used in this way. Or the other actors portrayed in the set... I wonder about them and their stories. Curator: These cards were avidly collected, and that says something about how we seek to memorialize—or capitalize on—even fleeting fame. Editor: I find it incredible that, from something designed for consumption, survives not just an image, but this delicate fragment of culture and aspirations. A tiny, faded window to the past.