Card Number 247, Urquhart, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is a trade card, printed around 1900 by W. Duke Sons & Co. to advertise Cross Cut Cigarettes. These cards were essentially disposable, churned out in huge numbers by industrialized printing processes. The sepia image shows an actress named Urquhart, and the card would have been collected and traded like baseball cards are today. The card’s material qualities—its thinness, its sheen, its photographic surface—speak to its status as a mass-produced commodity. The image itself, of course, is carefully constructed. The actress’s pose and costume are all designed to appeal to consumers. The use of celebrity endorsements was a relatively new marketing tactic at the time. It reflects a shift in the way products were being sold, with an increasing emphasis on image and brand recognition. So, while this card might seem like a humble artifact, it’s actually a window into the workings of consumer culture at the turn of the 20th century. The worlds of entertainment and advertising became intertwined, which continues to shape our society today.