Nellie Page, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This is Nellie Page, from the Actresses series (N245), a photograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Notice the sepia tones and small scale, which imbue the image with a sense of nostalgia and intimacy. The composition is straightforward: Page stands centrally, her figure elongated by her pose. The formal structure of the image—its sharp contrasts and clear lines—belies its function. As a trade card, it participates in a semiotic exchange, where Page's image is both a signifier of beauty and a commodity, wrapped up with the allure of the Sweet Caporal brand. The photograph's focus on the actress’s stylized form invites us to consider how identity is constructed and marketed through images. This interplay of commerce, identity, and representation invites us to examine how images function within a broader cultural landscape.