Mlle. Jane May, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This is a promotional trade card produced in the United States by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, part of a series of actresses used to market Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The image constructs meaning through both its visual and cultural codes. Firstly, its a commercial image, made for mass production and distribution. The figure of Mlle. Jane May, an actress, is presented in a bathing suit with nautical themes. In the late 19th century, actresses were among the most photographed women. By placing her image on a cigarette card, Kinney Brothers connected their product with glamour and celebrity, but also reinforced the idea of women as commodities. The image is suggestive of emergent themes around leisure and sport. Understanding this image fully requires that we look at the social conditions that allowed it to be produced, and the institutional context of trade cards in the history of marketing. This would provide an understanding of its role in consumer culture.