Miss Fabian, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: Here we have "Miss Fabian," a promotional piece from the 1880s created by Duke Sons & Co. It looks like a photographic print. I find it so interesting how these everyday items, cigarette cards, become artifacts. What is especially intriguing to you about this piece? Curator: Well, let's consider its materiality. It's a mass-produced photograph intended to be circulated and consumed. That photograph depicts a staged, idealized image of a performer – fabricated celebrity. We are viewing multiple layers of production here – from the labor in tobacco fields to the photographic studio to the printing press itself. Where does "art" begin and the commerce end? Editor: That’s a fantastic point. So, are you suggesting that the value lies not just in the image, but in the industrial processes behind it? Curator: Exactly. Look at the deliberate construction of "Miss Fabian’s" image, and consider its cultural role as an object of desire, circulated widely to drive consumption of cigarettes. Her beauty is a commodity; it is being bought and sold right alongside the tobacco. What social narratives does this tell? Editor: So, beyond just seeing a portrait, we are actually seeing a complex network of labor and marketing at play. I see how you might look at the labor that went into the creation of this image, and the social environment in which the artwork was made. Thank you for showing me something that might have remained invisible! Curator: My pleasure. It shows us how looking at production can radically alter our appreciation.