Card Number 355, Nora Sayles, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This small card, issued by Duke Sons & Co. features Nora Sayles, an actress, posed within an ornate frame to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. The frame itself is adorned with classical motifs—garlands and a grotesque mask—symbols harking back to ancient theatrical traditions. Consider the mask. From antiquity, masks were used in theatre to amplify emotions, embodying the tragic or comic. Here, its presence links Sayles to a lineage of performers, evoking the emotional intensity and catharsis associated with dramatic arts. We see echoes of this in commedia dell’arte, where stock characters wore distinct masks, each representing archetypal human traits. In this portrait, the mask above perhaps acts as a reminder of the transformative power of theatre, and its ability to tap into our shared cultural memory. It shows us a non-linear progression, how motifs resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings.