Card Number 209, Bessie, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is a trade card from around 1888, produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes. Here we see a portrait of a young girl named Bessie, adorned with a bonnet, her gaze holding a certain wistful quality. The use of children in advertising is a recurring motif throughout history, evoking feelings of innocence and purity to sell products. Think of cherubic figures in Renaissance paintings used to sanctify the narratives. In this context, Bessie’s image becomes a symbol of the aspirational desires of the consumer, a kind of innocent beauty associated with the product. This invokes a complex psychological reaction, doesn’t it? We’re drawn to the vulnerability and the allure of youth. This card is more than just advertisement; it’s a powerful symbol that taps into our collective memory, resurfacing and evolving in form but constant in its appeal to primal emotions.