Miss H. Terry, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Curator: Here we have "Miss H. Terry, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes," dating between 1886 and 1890. It’s currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: My first thought? This portrait feels surprisingly intimate for an advertisement. The albumen print creates a soft, almost ethereal quality to the image. Curator: Absolutely. These cards were inserts in cigarette packs, produced by Goodwin & Company. It's fascinating how mass media was used to elevate stage performers to celebrity status. The context of production significantly shapes our reading, doesn’t it? Editor: It does. Think about the labour involved in making these. Photographing, printing, and inserting these tiny cards into millions of cigarette packs – a very hands-on process to disseminate this image of Miss Terry. Were the workers mostly women, I wonder, packaging images of idealized womanhood for a male audience? Curator: Quite likely. And the proliferation of these cards also speaks volumes about the changing social landscape, the growing popularity of actresses and the theater, but also, let's not forget, the prevalence of smoking, of course. This kind of trading card normalized both celebrity culture and the product. Editor: It makes me think of how carefully posed and presented these images had to be. Each photograph served the double purpose of selling celebrity and cigarettes—how do those values, celebrity and consumption, get materially entwined in the production of the image? What labor and exploitation are we subtly endorsing with this "harmless" photograph? Curator: And the creation of such promotional objects contributed to a new visual economy that shaped cultural values and aspirations during the Gilded Age. It highlights the complex role of images in fostering a celebrity culture that persists to this day. Editor: Considering its origin, this card really makes you think about the process behind celebrity and consumption. And to think all those sticky fingers handling such a fragile object! It’s almost poignant. Curator: Precisely. This image serves as a fascinating case study for the interplay of social and cultural forces within art.