Mabel Runnels in Colors of Riverside Yacht Club, from the Yacht Colors of the World series (N140) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1890

Editor: This is "Mabel Runnels in Colors of Riverside Yacht Club," a print from 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It was a tobacco advertisement, surprisingly! It has a dreamy, watercolor-like quality, but feels a bit…stiff, almost like a photograph attempting to be an impressionist painting. What symbols jump out at you in this piece? Curator: The flag, naturally, speaks volumes. The cross on the flag isn’t necessarily a religious symbol here; it’s more likely a heraldic device, signaling identity and belonging to a specific club or organization. These flags became incredibly potent symbols of status and social aspiration during this period. Consider its positioning, almost blessing Mabel, integrating her with the aspirational identity linked to yachting. Editor: So, the flag acts almost like a halo, conferring status onto Mabel? Curator: Precisely! Think of the masts, too, as skeletal remains surrounding her; are they merely decoration or are they signifying the ghost of progress, aspiration, and possibly the ephemeral nature of societal stature? And the wheel at the base implies a journey. Editor: That’s fascinating! I initially saw it as purely decorative. I hadn't considered how loaded everyday images like these can be. Curator: Images become powerful precisely because they often operate beneath our conscious awareness. What do you make of her slightly averted gaze? Where do you imagine she is looking? Editor: Perhaps toward a future of such elevated status. Curator: An interesting conjecture! We, too, become a part of that gaze by witnessing it and perpetuating the symbolism, aren’t we? It has made me consider the layers of cultural aspiration present in what I initially saw as just a simple image. Editor: I'm walking away seeing so much more than a tobacco advertisement. It’s a tiny window into a very specific cultural moment.