Hairdresser, from the Occupations for Women series (N166) for Old Judge and Dogs Head Cigarettes 1887

Goodwin & Company created this small lithograph trade card, entitled 'Hairdresser' sometime between 1850 and 1950. The image depicts a fashionable woman in a stylized uniform, suggesting the changing role of women in the workforce at that time. The card is from a series called "Occupations for Women," which hints at the period's evolving social dynamics. It reflects an increasing, albeit slow, acceptance of women in various trades. Yet, the attire and presentation are hardly practical, indicating a tension between idealizing women's labor and actual working conditions. This card was distributed with Old Judge and Dogs Head Cigarettes, an advertisement for tobacco that gives us a sense of how mass media promoted ideas about gender and labor. Resources like trade publications and census data could further illuminate how such images helped shape attitudes about women's work in this period. The historian's task is to situate this image within these broader social and institutional contexts.