Card Number 388, Pauline Markham, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Well, hello there. This piece, "Card Number 388, Pauline Markham," comes from the Actors and Actresses series printed by Duke Sons & Co. in the 1880s. It was intended as a promotional item for Duke Cigarettes, so the consumerism piece is already built in! Editor: What a fascinating artifact of celebrity endorsement. My first impression is one of faded glamour. It’s like a whisper of the past, this sepia-toned image capturing Pauline’s poised stance. You can almost smell the perfume and cigarette smoke from a bygone era, can't you? Curator: Precisely! And consider the material—a printed photograph on cardstock, circulated en masse, tucked into cigarette packs. It’s a far cry from the unique, handcrafted artwork of the fine art world. It speaks volumes about industrial production and marketing's relentless encroachment on culture. Editor: But it’s still visually interesting, right? I mean, even though it’s a promotional item, it feels very staged and deliberate. Markham's pose seems both self-assured and… dare I say… suggestive? She really holds our gaze. Curator: Absolutely. And think about the implications: images of actresses as marketing tools. Their bodies, their fame, all commodified to sell tobacco. This speaks volumes about the dynamics of gender and labor in the late 19th century, a period deeply marked by these kinds of consumerist impulses. Editor: And you know, when you look closely, it becomes this quiet, intimate moment. Despite the mass production angle you're outlining, there is still an almost painterly effect happening. Is it just me, or is this piece simultaneously impersonal and deeply revealing? I see vulnerability there in her eyes. Curator: A tension between the industrial and the intimate... A constant struggle that shapes cultural production and consumption in that period, absolutely. What fascinates me is that Duke Cigarettes’ legacy lives on today in The Met. Editor: Funny how these small artifacts open portals, don’t they? To a time, a feeling, a whole lost world, preserved, or maybe resurrected in a simple portrait on a card. Curator: Exactly. It compels us to ask: what, from our own era of relentless promotional materials, will survive to tell our stories a century from now? What will they say about our labor, about our consumption, about who we are?