Bertina Leslie, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This card showing actress Bertina Leslie was produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as one of a series of promotional items. It’s a small, mass-produced image, but it speaks volumes about the social and cultural context of its time. Made in the late 19th century, this card reflects the burgeoning consumer culture and the increasing popularity of both tobacco and the theater. The image creates meaning through the celebrity of the actress who is portrayed, linking her image to the product. What was the nature of fame at this time? How did it function in relation to the emerging advertising industry? Was Bertina Leslie famous because of talent or visibility? These are the questions that a historian might ask when approaching an object like this. We would consult theater records, advertising archives, and social histories of the period. We would interpret it as an artifact that is contingent on social and institutional context.