Card Number 119, Adelaide Randall, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Let’s take a look at this curious card from the 1880s, one of a series created by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote their Cameo Cigarettes. This particular card, number 119, features Adelaide Randall, an actress of the time. Editor: It has the appearance of aged parchment; its sepia tones convey an artifact of the late nineteenth century. I’m struck by the delicate nature of this medium. You imagine the card's function within consumer culture and the hands that exchanged it. Curator: Indeed. These cards served a dual purpose. Firstly, they stiffened cigarette packs. Secondly, they were collectible items that promoted both the brand and the popular actors and actresses of the period. Think of them as an early form of advertising. Editor: I immediately fixate on the figure in the foreground. Consider her outfit; I assume it's a costume? One must contemplate its fabrication—the labor and materials employed. Velvet? Silk? Lace? Curator: Precisely! Randall is portrayed in theatrical attire; in what role, however, I could only speculate. This sort of advertisement created a direct relationship between the theater and this commodity. By showcasing Adelaide Randall, the card enhanced her status, tying it to the consumption habits of smokers. Editor: It speaks to the broader commodification of labor. Adelaide Randall’s image, printed onto cardboard, becomes just another item in a marketplace that already peddles tobacco and aspirations to a grand life. Curator: These cards offered affordable entertainment to mass audiences while subtly promoting specific ideals of beauty and success. This photograph helped perpetuate societal values through accessible, collectible prints, influencing taste and perception on a widespread level. Editor: Such material holds many contradictions: mass production, celebrity image, performance and material presence merge. This object holds its origins inside it. Curator: Absolutely, offering a tangible snapshot into both material culture and the socio-political currents of the 1880s. Editor: Exactly; viewing an item such as this, even a single card, enables examination of not only an object but systems and power in play at the time.