Card Number 223, Mlle. Hartwig, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This trade card, part of the "Actors and Actresses" series, was issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote their Cross Cut Cigarettes in the 1880s. The card features a portrait of Mlle. Hartwig, a performer of the era. The image captures Hartwig in a bathing costume, likely meant to evoke a sense of leisure and enjoyment, aligning with the association of cigarettes with relaxation. The card's design, a typical example of 19th-century trade cards, combines a visual depiction with advertising text, reflecting the marketing practices of the time. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York houses this small, yet historically significant, piece of ephemera.