Actress wearing straw hat with blue ribbons, from Stars of the Stage, Third Series (N131) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1891 - 1892

This chromolithograph, made around 1870 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., isn't just a pretty picture; it's a piece of marketing history. Printed on a small card, it was originally slipped into packets of Honest Long Cut Tobacco. The process of chromolithography allowed for mass production of colorful images, making it a popular choice for advertising. Look closely and you can see the subtle layering of colors, built up from multiple passes of printing stones. This was a skilled trade, requiring precise registration to achieve a clear, vibrant image. The actress's straw hat, adorned with blue ribbons, speaks to the fashion of the time. These hats, often hand-braided and trimmed, were made from natural materials like straw, requiring labor-intensive work. This advertisement uses her image to associate the tobacco brand with glamour, style and craft, but it also represents the mass-produced image that helped to fuel a consumer culture. By considering the materials, making and context, we recognize the social and economic forces at play in this small artwork.