Card Number 252, Sadie Cortelyou, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Oh, this takes me back. Seeing Sadie Cortelyou on a tiny card shouting "Cross Cut Cigarettes are the Best!" from the 1880s... it’s charming and so very odd. Like stumbling upon a secret message in a dusty attic. Editor: The tonality is interesting, almost monochrome sepia, highlighting Cortelyou’s stance, and imbuing the entire image with a specific depth due to the texture and lighting, a common technique of photography in the late 19th century, especially considering this card's mass-produced intent. Curator: Mass produced but also such an intimate window. There’s Sadie in her jaunty uniform – or is it a costume? – a plume in her cap, and look, she’s got a cigarette elegantly perched between her fingers, blowing out a plume of smoke! It's a photograph, of course, but the way it's printed... almost a drawing quality to it. Who knew cigarette ads could be so theatrical? Editor: The composition draws heavily from the portrait style prevalent during that time, note the subject posed against an intricate wall; it provides a visual context that complements Sadie's costuming and enhances her figure, making it the focal point of the card while also helping frame the bold advertising slogan next to her. Curator: Do you think Sadie actually enjoyed smoking? Or was it all just a grand performance for the Duke Sons & Co.? There's a quiet mischief in her expression; a spark. It feels like she’s sharing a secret with us from across the years, something slightly rebellious. The best cigarettes *and* a bit of daring. Editor: Her costume is undoubtedly performative, though what’s significant is how it juxtaposes with the commodification happening simultaneously. She’s an actor, commodified on a small card—the essence of labor turned object, not unlike a Dadaist statement on art. The formal and functional intermingle and merge. Curator: So well put. And you know, it's incredible to think about these cards, slipped into cigarette packs, floating around in pockets and purses, becoming tiny ambassadors of celebrity and vice. Now it hangs in the Met. Amazing, the journeys a little piece of art can take. Editor: Absolutely. A convergence of marketing, photography, celebrity culture, and material production that encapsulates a fascinating historical moment. Curator: Indeed. It’s almost as if this petite card tells a much grander story. Editor: Precisely. And Sadie Cortelyou gets the last puff on us, so to speak.