Card 434, Miss Arlington, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This card featuring Miss Arlington was produced by Allen & Ginter of Richmond, Virginia as part of a series included in packs of Virginia Brights Cigarettes. It’s a chromolithograph, a relatively new process at the time, which allowed for mass production of colorful images. The texture is smooth, a result of the printing process, but the image itself evokes textures of fabric and feathers in Miss Arlington's attire. These cards were collected and traded, little artworks in their own right. What is fascinating here is how an image of celebrity culture gets folded into the industrial process. The making of these cards represents a convergence of art, advertising, and industry. The labor is hidden, but vast. These were products of factories churning out images intended to be both collectible and disposable, and a far cry from older ideas of individual studio work, and fine art.