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

Editor: Here we have "Fannie McIntyre," a photographic print dating back to 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. It's part of their Actresses series for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The sepia tones and her theatrical pose give it a really dreamy, old Hollywood vibe, even though it predates Hollywood's golden age. What strikes you most about this portrait? Curator: Dreamy is spot on! I love how the light seems to caress her face. But, stepping back, I’m caught by the intentional artifice. It's theatre, through and through, and selling cigarettes. The backdrop feels like a stage curtain, framing Fannie, our star. It makes me wonder, is she more "actress" or commodity here? What do you think, isn’t it odd to pair this sort of idealized woman with something as gritty as smoking? Editor: Definitely a bizarre juxtaposition! I guess celebrity endorsements aren't exactly new. She almost looks like a Greek goddess draped in fabric, very idealized as you say, maybe to make smoking seem more glamorous? Curator: Precisely! And notice her gaze – she’s not exactly engaging with us, is she? There's a detachment, as if she’s lost in her own reverie, selling an experience of sophistication, of a certain inaccessible "je ne sais quoi" to the masses lighting up a Sweet Caporal. Are we buying the cigarette or are we buying into a dream of who we could be? Editor: So it's less about *her* and more about what she *represents.* I guess I hadn't really thought about that. Curator: It is, isn't it? These images are such tiny capsules of their time. It’s like archeology, where what seems superficial reflects entire layers of social expectation. I wonder, looking at Fannie McIntyre, what dreams and contradictions we project through images today. Editor: It’s amazing how much can be unpacked from one little picture! I’ll definitely look at similar advertising images differently from now on!