Card Number 59, Miss Mattie Vickers, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This card, printed by W. Duke, Sons & Co., features Miss Mattie Vickers, an actress whose image was meant to entice smokers to purchase Cross Cut Cigarettes. Notice how Miss Vickers's pose—the slight turn of her head and her coy glance—echoes the Venus Pudica, a classical motif where modesty is feigned. We see this gesture of covering the body across various depictions of Venus throughout art history, symbolizing purity and allure. The cigarette card, like the Venus, becomes an object of desire, promising a certain experience to the viewer. What is it about a subtle gesture that speaks so powerfully across time? Perhaps it is a primal recognition—a shared understanding embedded deep within our collective memory. The enduring image of the coy figure reminds us of how symbols recur and adapt, their meanings transforming with each new context.