From the Actresses series (N57) promoting Our Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1890

Editor: So, here we have "From the Actresses series (N57) promoting Our Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products," a lithograph from 1890. It’s striking how bluntly it uses a woman’s image to sell cigarettes. What is your take? Curator: It’s a lithograph, a relatively cheap and reproducible medium. This immediately suggests widespread dissemination and consumption. Consider the material conditions of its production: the labor involved in creating the image, the paper it's printed on, and its ultimate role in fueling the tobacco industry's economic engine. How does the commodification of both the actresses’ images and the cigarettes themselves highlight societal values of the time? Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. It wasn’t simply art; it was a mass-produced tool for selling something, with women being, in essence, part of the commodity. The intersection of art, commerce, and labor is clear. Do you think the 'artistic' element mattered to its consumers? Curator: Arguably no more than the collectability. It blurs the lines between 'high art' and advertising ephemera. By examining the material processes involved, from the lithographer's craft to the consumer's act of purchasing and discarding, we reveal a system where images were not just aesthetically pleasing but actively shaping social behaviors. And the cheapness is exactly its point. Editor: Right, this isn’t some precious, unique object. This was made for mass appeal, disposable, and, like the product it advertises, consumable. It shows how deeply enmeshed art and advertising were even back then. Curator: Precisely. Analyzing the piece materially helps us move beyond formal elements and uncover the power dynamics at play in its creation and consumption. Editor: Thanks; I see a lot more layers to the image now. Curator: Indeed, considering production and social function opens new doors to understanding not only this artwork but also many others.