Card Number 318, Annie Terscotte, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Looking at this photograph, I'm immediately struck by the pose. She's gazing upward, almost wistfully. Editor: That’s Annie Terscotte, a stage actress in the 1880s. This albumen print is actually a promotional card, “Card Number 318,” from a series of "Actors and Actresses" issued by the cigarette company W. Duke, Sons & Co. Curator: Ah, that explains the...dare I say... theatrical flair! I mean, just look at the cascade of flowers in her hair. The composition emphasizes her idealized beauty. It’s really an aesthetic embrace of the era, isn't it? Editor: It is. The flowers, a popular adornment then, symbolize not just beauty, but also ephemerality, fleeting fame perhaps. It also echoes the commercial intention: beautiful objects to attract consumers to buy the cigarettes. There is a symbolic depth to advertising ephemera when viewed through a lens like that. Curator: So true! It’s kind of ironic that these cards, meant to be tossed away with cigarette packs, became treasured collectables. Something so utterly temporal achieving a peculiar, enduring aura. Editor: Right. An ephemeral object designed for immediate gratification gaining an almost iconic status, transforming the actress into a commodity and back again, decades later. The text even asserts that Cross-Cut Cigarettes “are the best”, adding a further, very unsubtle layer of commodification to this beautiful and dignified portrait. Curator: Well, regardless of its commercial underpinnings, there’s still a lingering elegance, almost an innocent longing in Annie's expression, that captures a sliver of the collective soul from the late 19th century. I feel it almost asks to be recognized. Editor: Indeed. I'm always intrigued how mundane images can open portals to the values and hopes of past times. Thanks to artifacts such as these, the images persist beyond individual memory, giving faces and character to cultural patterns that outlive both.