Maggie M., from the Actresses and Celebrities series (N60, Type 2) promoting Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1887

This albumen print of Maggie M. was produced by Allen & Ginter as a promotional card inserted into packs of Little Beauties Cigarettes. Its materiality speaks volumes about commerce and culture in its time. This photograph, mass-produced for tobacco advertisement, collapses distinctions between art and everyday life. The albumen printing process, a popular 19th-century technique, involves coating paper with albumen from egg whites, creating a glossy surface for the photographic image. While photography was considered a high-tech medium at the time, the amount of labor that went into this mode of production, including the raising of poultry to provide the necessary eggs, highlights the connection of this image to a larger network of labor, consumption, and capitalist enterprise. By placing this image within the context of consumer culture, we can consider how it blurs the lines between artistic expression, commercial promotion, and labor.