From the series "Sports Girls" (C190), issued by the American Cigarette Company, Ltd., Montreal, to promote Gloria Cigarettes 1885 - 1895

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this intriguing piece: a print titled "From the series 'Sports Girls' (C190)", issued between 1885 and 1895 by the American Cigarette Company, Ltd. to promote Gloria Cigarettes. It's currently housed here at the Met. Editor: My first impression? Nostalgia tinged with… unease. It’s charming at first glance, this brightly dressed jockey, but something about the context—cigarettes? Sports girls? It feels a little unsettling. Curator: Precisely. These trade cards, inserted into cigarette packs, served as miniature advertisements and collectibles. Examining its materials – printmaking with mixed media – reveals a mass-produced object designed to circulate widely within consumer culture. Editor: The colors are so crisp, almost cartoonish, yet the jockey’s expression is so bland. The flatness contrasts jarringly with the detail in the boots, the little spurs! It reminds me of that strange dream where everything is overly-detailed yet vaguely unsettling. Curator: These cards not only promoted a specific product, but also circulated particular ideals of femininity and sport. How women are viewed by corporations producing products for general consumption. The history of representation is bound with industry and its consumer base. Editor: Looking closely at the face, the gender is almost… ambiguous. The line between idealized 'sports girl' and, frankly, male figure seems purposefully blurred, no? And the slogan below "Smoke Gloria Cigarettes" seals the sense that identity and pleasure were literally sold hand-in-hand. Curator: Absolutely, it demonstrates the fusion of commerce and visual culture in the late 19th century. Also it shows how the product affects gender expectations of society, and thus affects its buying trends. Editor: Yes. These promotional tokens became a microcosm of how advertising constructed not only desire, but cultural norms. A piece like this speaks to so much that is embedded within consumer history and, still more importantly, reminds us to look twice at where it all begins and leads to. Curator: Precisely; considering its place within consumerism offers so many rich points about industry, the development of advertising and its products, that impact representation to the extent where their legacies remain pervasive today.