Lettie Meredith, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

Curator: What a delightful find! I feel transported. This is a portrait of Lettie Meredith, an actress, taken around 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as part of their “Actresses” series for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Isn't it enchanting? Editor: My first impression is that there's a sense of staged intimacy. Her gaze isn’t directly at the viewer, and she's positioned in a way that almost feels caught-in-motion, despite the static nature of photography from this time. It’s curious. Curator: Yes! It feels so modern, in a way. You almost expect her to curtsy. These cards, inserted in cigarette packs, were all the rage—little snapshots of celebrity. And look at the way she holds that fan! Editor: The commodification of the feminine ideal is palpable here. Actresses, then and now, became objects of desire and aspiration. I'm interested in thinking about what the availability and popularity of such portraits signify concerning constructions of gender and fame during that era. It speaks volumes about the societal pressures faced by women. Curator: You're right, the image itself seems carefully constructed. Note the light, almost painterly softness and theatrical costume. She isn’t selling just cigarettes; she's selling a whole persona! One almost senses she might wink and hand me one. Editor: Precisely! And that curated image plays into existing power dynamics. I see it as an example of the gaze, and the layers involved when an actress is viewed, purchased, consumed—a triple layer, then, of male consumer culture. I keep wondering about the agency—or lack thereof—available to Lettie Meredith, in steering or crafting that persona. Curator: Ah, a tricky question! She was certainly complicit and maybe quite canny about it, though perhaps that’s just me romanticizing the period. Regardless, this card survives and keeps the conversation going. Editor: Absolutely. Thinking about historical images and the messages that saturate visual culture is really an urgent activity, and interrogating these photographs – which are seemingly innocent – really demonstrates the power of art as a mirror for these critical issues.