Card Number 304, Miss Fritch, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is a promotional card for Cross Cut Cigarettes by W. Duke, Sons & Co., featuring Miss Fritch, an actress, holding a lit candle. The candle is a key symbol. Light, especially candlelight, has long been a motif representing enlightenment and truth, but also ephemerality, the fleeting nature of life. Think of vanitas paintings with their skulls and guttering candles, reminding us of mortality. Here, the cigarette company uses this symbolism to associate their product with not only pleasure, but also a conscious acknowledgement of life's transient beauty. The gentle glow flatters Miss Fritch, enhancing her allure. It's a carefully constructed image, designed to ignite a desire, not just for a cigarette, but for a connection to beauty, however brief. This card isn't merely selling tobacco, it's selling a moment of transcendence, a flicker of understanding in the darkness.