Card Number 23, Miss Woodsworth, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is a card from the Actors and Actresses series, created by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. It captures Miss Woodsworth in sepia tones on a small rectangular format. The composition is dominated by the figure of Miss Woodsworth, seated and elegantly posed, her attire a cascade of ruffles and frills. The interplay between the textual and the visual is immediately apparent. The text, declaring "Cross-Cut Cigarettes ARE THE BEST," anchors the image, attempting to stabilize its meaning. But the photograph of Miss Woodsworth, with her ambiguous gaze and theatrical costume, introduces a layer of complexity. She is a signifier, both of celebrity culture and of idealized femininity, yet also a commodity, packaged and sold alongside tobacco. The card's formal structure invites semiotic analysis. The product's claim to superiority is directly juxtaposed with the actress, suggesting an equivalence between the aspirational qualities of fame and the supposed excellence of the cigarettes. This juxtaposition challenges fixed meanings, blurring the boundaries between art, commerce, and identity. The photograph becomes a stage where cultural codes are performed, and the cigarette card acts as a pocket-sized theater, reflecting the shifting landscape of late 19th-century consumer culture.