Card Number 75, Sadie Martinot, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: This is Card Number 75 from the Actors and Actresses series, featuring Sadie Martinot. It's from the 1880s, created by Duke Sons & Co. as a promo for Cross Cut Cigarettes, and you can find it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's quite striking how delicate it feels for an advertisement, almost like a faded memory. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: Oh, Sadie! She seems lost in thought, doesn’t she? This little card transports me. Imagine slipping one of these into a cigarette pack – a miniature celebrity endorsement tucked amongst your tobacco. The sepia tone lends an antique aura, hinting at a bygone era of gaslit stages and whispered secrets. Did you notice the slight blurring, a sort of photographic haze? I wonder what sort of statement Duke Sons & Co. were making by associating Sadie's theatrical glamour with their cigarettes. Do you think there's a relationship between Sadie's contemplative gaze and the pleasures – and dangers – of smoking? Editor: That's a fascinating question! I hadn’t thought about the blurring as intentional. I just saw it as a sign of its age. But maybe it’s adding to that sense of mystery you're describing. Curator: Exactly! It blurs the line, doesn’t it? Between selling cigarettes and selling a dream. Between the concrete and the ethereal. What have you learned about photographic images functioning as celebrity endorsements? Is Sadie the ancestor to a modern day celebrity instagram post, perhaps? Editor: That is definitely thought-provoking! I never thought about connecting it to our time, but it is almost like an old version of the way influencers are used to promote brands. Thanks for pointing that out. Curator: My pleasure. It’s these connections that breathe life into the art. And remember – smoke 'em if you got 'em, but everything in moderation, especially insightful readings of vintage cigarette cards.