Lecuyer, Palais Royal, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Editor: This is "Lecuyer, Palais Royal," part of the Actors and Actresses series produced by Allen & Ginter for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, dating between 1885 and 1891. It's a small card, almost a snapshot, featuring a woman by the sea. What strikes me is the juxtaposition of this performer with the advertising context. What’s your take? Curator: It’s a fascinating example of how celebrity and consumerism intertwined in the late 19th century. Consider how the image of this Palais Royal performer, Lecuyer, a detail, was being leveraged to sell cigarettes. It speaks volumes about the burgeoning mass media and its effect on cultural values. How do you think the act of collecting these cards factored into its cultural significance? Editor: I hadn't thought about the act of collecting itself. Were people buying these cigarettes just to get the cards, like kids trading baseball cards today? Curator: Precisely! The cards were effectively a marketing ploy but one that reflects the Victorian fascination with collecting, classification, and public personae. They offered access to a seemingly glamorous world. Did the average consumer, purchasing their Virginia Brights, reflect on how that purchase further empowered a cultural elite? Or, in purchasing and collecting these cards, was this consumer him/herself participating in, and thus consolidating the same systems that create celebrity in the first place? Editor: That's a really interesting way to look at it, seeing the consumer not as just a passive buyer, but as an active participant in creating and maintaining that celebrity culture. Curator: Exactly. So it isn't just about this particular image, but about the broader network of exchange— between performance, advertisement, and the public, the social, political and financial fabric of this historical time period, each a cultural construct impacting and dependent on each other. Editor: This really makes me rethink how these small cards operated in society. Thanks for shedding light on that. Curator: My pleasure! Thinking about art in this wider social context always makes it more exciting to me.