Card Number 210, Fanny Davenport, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Card Number 210, featuring Fanny Davenport, was created by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as part of their Actors and Actresses series to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. The sepia tones and the tight composition create an intimate viewing experience. Davenport's profile, with its soft focus, invites us to consider the interplay between public image and private persona. The text is integrated as part of the composition. The card functioned within a specific cultural moment, where the commodification of fame met the burgeoning advertising industry. As a sign, Davenport is less about her unique identity and more about her celebrity status, used to sell cigarettes. This collapsing of art, commerce, and celebrity is very telling of the structural underpinnings of this historical moment. Consider how the formal elements of this card—its size, its sepia tones, and the careful composition—function as a cultural signifier, revealing much about the values and structures of its time. It reflects the ongoing dialogue between art, commerce, and the construction of identity.