Card Number 138, Edna Courtney, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This is a promotional card for Cross Cut Cigarettes by Duke Sons & Co., featuring actress Edna Courtney. Note how the attire is presented, a theatrical gesture. Her costume, a blend of boldness and coquetry, has a lineage stretching back to the commedia dell'arte. Consider the harlequin, the jester, figures who through their garb and bearing, challenge social norms. These theatrical gestures, like the costume, are a tool used to challenge power dynamics. Striped leggings remind us of those worn by medieval jesters, a visual shorthand for satire and irreverence. Note how the harlequin figure persists in Picasso's works. The actress’s confident pose and the theatricality of her clothing create a potent, almost transgressive image, stirring deep within us. Such images, whether on a stage or a cigarette card, become vessels of cultural memory, continuously evolving.