Miss Barrington as "The Fire Lassie," from the series Fancy Dress Ball Costumes (N73) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

This chromolithograph was made by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in the United States as a promotional insert for Duke brand cigarettes. It shows Miss Barrington dressed as "The Fire Lassie." These cards were part of a larger cultural trend of collecting and displaying images, much like trading cards today. What's striking is the performance of gender and class. Here, Miss Barrington, likely a prominent socialite, is dressed in a playful, theatrical version of a working-class profession. This speaks to the social distance between the elites and the working class, where the latter's occupations become a source of amusement and fancy dress. To understand this image fully, we need to look into the history of advertising, the social dynamics of the Gilded Age, and the role of women in public life at that time. Only through such research can we truly grasp the complex meanings embedded in this seemingly simple image.