Card 660, Miss Joice, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This card featuring Miss Joice, from the Actors and Actresses series, was made by Allen & Ginter as a promotional insert for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. It's a small piece, only a few inches in either direction, printed using the photomechanical process of the era. These cards were essentially trade stimulators, designed to make customers choose one brand of cigarettes over another. The material is thin and meant to be disposable, but the image is of a celebrity, which gives it a collectable appeal. Think about the labor involved: harvesting tobacco, manufacturing cigarettes, printing the cards. Then, think about the social context: the rise of consumer culture, the cult of celebrity, the casual acceptance of smoking. The card itself is a product of its time, reflecting the social and economic forces at play in late 19th-century America. It's a reminder that even the smallest objects can tell us a lot about the world around us, revealing the intertwined histories of art, commerce, and everyday life.