Card 427, Alice Lingard, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: Ah, this little gem—a trade card, circa 1885 to 1891, part of Allen & Ginter's "Actors and Actresses" series, specifically number 427 featuring Alice Lingard, designed to promote Virginia Brights Cigarettes. Editor: My word, it's all so sepia-toned and melancholic. Like a faded photograph found in a long-lost attic, whispering tales of the vaudeville stage and plumes as big as my head! I’m practically tasting that dry old paper, like grandma’s albums… Curator: Trade cards such as these were chromolithographed, mass-produced items, often collected and traded. They reflect the rising popularity of both celebrity culture and tobacco consumption at the time. The material conditions of production are fascinating - cheap card stock, mass printing techniques and an obvious intent to fuel consumption. Editor: Absolutely! And Alice herself...there's such an affected air. The hat, the gesture…almost mocking herself. She's got a cross necklace on over a floral blouse—kind of sweet. It feels performative, not just a picture of her but a construction of persona. Almost a playful defiance. Curator: That persona was carefully cultivated to appeal to consumers. Cigarette companies understood the appeal of associating glamour and artistry with their product. Consider, the means to afford such garments and accoutrements as seen here relies heavily on a wider economic machine that employed thousands…mostly women...in the making of such objects. Editor: True. All those invisible hands...It makes me consider how even these ephemeral things carry entire economies. The illusion of glamour packaged to move product is itself revealing. I see sadness lurking beneath her charm... and think it might speak volumes. Curator: Precisely, the surface image hides a complex network of social and material relationships. A window into a world driven by production and the creation of desire. These weren't just portraits; they were tiny engines of capitalism! Editor: Right. Little propaganda cards of fabulous artifice and the whole engine turns… Well, it has been lovely peering into Alice's smoky past with you! Curator: Indeed, a stark lesson that even what appears fleeting leaves tangible and resonant traces.