Card Number 108, Fanny Rice, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: This is Card Number 108 in the Actors and Actresses series, featuring Fanny Rice. These cards were distributed by Duke Sons & Co. in the 1880s to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. The print, based on a photograph, resides here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: My goodness, that’s a sepia dream! There's a delicate, almost melancholic air to it, like a faded photograph unearthed from a forgotten attic trunk. Her gaze is wistful, definitely drawing you in, but I wish she didn't have to sell cigarettes. Curator: Consider how tobacco cards capitalized on celebrity culture. These were pre-digital trading cards, a window into the era's fascination with actors. Fanny Rice herself would've been recognizable, and associating her with cigarettes served a commercial and cultural purpose. Images carried value. Editor: And what kind of value! Talk about using a person as a vessel! Looking at this portrait today, I notice that the folds of her dress form this incredible sort of labyrinth. I wonder, does the maze represent the intricate performances, the many masks an actress must don? Or just simply really cute Greek patterns on fabric trim? Curator: Her garments certainly speak of an aspiration to classical elegance. We see that sort of costuming everywhere. And, that labyrinthine design could reference the myth of the Minotaur. Was this star trapped within cycles of performance? Editor: Good heavens. That just went right over my head! Cycles of performance, or a marketing trap—quite profound, right? Curator: Ultimately, it blurs the lines. I think she probably held significant cultural meaning. This isn't just a picture, it's a carefully constructed symbol, like how we see some actresses today still being turned into icons or gods. Editor: That does echo. Seeing those labyrinthine folds again... Perhaps it is that feeling, that perpetual return to a self both known and unknown. It makes you wonder what Fanny Rice felt about it all, doesn't it? Curator: Indeed. It leaves one to ponder the ways our images can become intertwined with symbols, perhaps not even intended but with potent resonances over time. Editor: Maybe next time, I'll buy a pack of cigarettes, just so I can get the whole message... No, I am only kidding. Thank you, Fanny! A captivating journey!