Plate 49, from the Fans of the Period series (N7) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

Editor: So, this is "Plate 49, from the Fans of the Period series," a cigarette card by Allen & Ginter from 1889. It's a colored pencil and print piece. It's funny—it's trying to be this elegant portrait, but the fan and the subject’s slightly quizzical expression almost make it a caricature. How do you interpret this little card? Curator: Let’s consider it as more than just a charming image. We need to examine the material reality behind this seemingly innocuous card. Think about its production. It's a mass-produced item meant to be included in cigarette packs, right? What does that tell us about the consumption of art and its relationship to other commodities during this period? Editor: That it’s advertising? Curator: Exactly, but more than that, it speaks to the blurring lines between art, advertising, and everyday life. Colored pencil and print made this image cheap to reproduce, directly embedding visual culture into daily habits. Editor: So, it democratized art, making it accessible to ordinary people through the act of buying cigarettes? Curator: Precisely! Also consider the depiction of the "fan." Hand fans themselves were material objects carrying social and cultural significance, indicators of wealth and status. How does this cheap imitation challenge those values? Is this a moment of disrupting the value system of art by bringing into it what could be seen as more mundane object like cigarettes and hand fans? Editor: It does make you question who gets to decide what art is. It's like Allen & Ginter are democratizing status symbols, packaging a bit of aspirational culture with every pack. It almost feels like art-as-meme before the internet! Curator: A useful comparison, indeed. And that’s why approaching art through a materialist lens can open our eyes to broader issues of production, consumption, and social hierarchies embedded within art objects. We see the cigarette card as a commodity first. Editor: I never thought about it that way. It's so interesting to consider how everyday objects can become such rich reflections of their time, questioning traditional artistic standards! Curator: Material reality shapes our perspectives.