Card Number 740, Erminie Vaughan, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: This is Card Number 740 featuring Erminie Vaughan, from the Actors and Actresses series issued by Duke Sons & Co. in the 1880s. It's an albumen print, a type of photography. It feels so staged and mannered. I'm curious – what do you see in this piece beyond a simple portrait? Curator: I see a potent cocktail of aspiration and promotion. Erminie Vaughan, preserved in this small card, transcends the personal to become a symbol. An actress, representing a particular feminine ideal of the 1880s, amplified by association with "Cross Cut Cigarettes are the best.” Editor: Cigarettes? What’s that got to do with acting? Curator: The association is key. Tobacco companies, then as now, understood the power of celebrity endorsement. Erminie’s image becomes entangled with the pleasure and social currency associated with smoking. She's not just herself anymore; she’s a vehicle for desire, both for fame and for…a smoke. Editor: So, her image isn't really about her. It's about selling something else, almost using her likeness as a brand? Curator: Precisely. This card acts as a tangible piece of cultural memory. What does it say about our values that such ephemera were considered valuable enough to produce and collect? Do you see, how the symbols are deeply rooted within culture? Editor: It's a strange and somewhat unsettling blend of art, advertising, and celebrity. I hadn’t thought about how those elements worked together at that time. Curator: Indeed, a pocket-sized encapsulation of the emerging celebrity culture, forever tied to the fragrant lure of tobacco. Editor: That’s fascinating. It really puts the image into a broader context and makes me think about the messages behind even the smallest artworks.