Card 660, Miss Joice, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This is Card 660, Miss Joice, from the Actors and Actresses series, a trade card for Virginia Brights Cigarettes, produced by Allen & Ginter. These cards, popular in the late 19th century, offer a glimpse into the cultural values and consumerism of the Gilded Age. The series reflects the era's fascination with celebrities, particularly actresses who embodied ideals of femininity and beauty. Miss Joice, like other actresses featured, was both a performer and a commodity, her image used to sell cigarettes, and in a world of emerging mass media, women performers navigated new forms of visibility and representation. What did it mean to be both celebrated and objectified? Such images fostered a connection between glamour, leisure, and consumption. Today, the card invites us to consider the historical interplay between celebrity culture, gender, and the marketing of desire.