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

This small card depicting Annie Mayer was produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. These cards, which were very popular in the United States at the end of the 19th century, offer a glimpse into the social and cultural values of the Gilded Age. The decision to use actresses as a selling point reveals much about the cultural status of women in this period, where public fascination with their image was seen as a reliable means of marketing. It is interesting to consider the economic structures that allowed the mass production of such images and how these in turn reinforced prevailing social norms around beauty, celebrity, and consumerism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art makes available many resources and much information that allow us to explore the historical context that gave rise to this object.