Gladday Virvian, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1890

This small photograph, part of a series of actresses, was produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as a promotional item for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. The late 19th century saw an explosion of mass media, and with it, the commodification of celebrity. Here, Gladday Virvian, a performer of the time, is carefully posed. Her gaze drifts upward and away, directing our attention beyond the frame, perhaps to the stage or to some aspirational future. These cards reflect the complex dynamics of gender, performance, and consumer culture. Actresses, often figures of both admiration and moral scrutiny, were used to sell products, thus intertwining their personas with the desires and fantasies of the public. The image invites us to consider the ways in which women's identities were both celebrated and exploited in the burgeoning age of mass media and advertising, leaving us to question the narratives of female success and visibility that persist to this day.