From the Girls and Children series (N58) promoting Our Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1887

This small card was printed by the Allen & Ginter company in the late 19th century as an advertisement insert for their cigarettes. It depicts a girl, dressed in an elegant yellow dress, smoking. Tobacco cards like this one were a 19th-century marketing phenomenon. Produced in America, they exploited novel printing technologies and were collected as a hobby. This card exemplifies the complex relationship between childhood and consumer culture at the time. The image presents a striking contrast between innocence and sophistication, as the young girl is portrayed as both youthful and glamorous while engaging in an adult habit. The card uses imagery to normalize smoking, subtly encouraging consumers to associate it with beauty and sophistication. By exploring sources from the period such as advertising trade journals, we can better understand the marketing strategies and cultural attitudes that shaped the production and reception of artworks like this one. The meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context.