Actress with curly short hair, from Stars of the Stage, Third Series (N131) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1891 - 1892

This chromolithograph of an actress with curly short hair was made by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a promotional item for Honest Long Cut Tobacco, sometime between 1870 and 1920. These cards were part of a larger cultural phenomenon in the United States, where the rise of consumer culture met the growing popularity of the stage. Actresses, with their carefully cultivated images, became powerful figures. The card visually links the actress’s allure to the tobacco brand, subtly suggesting that purchasing this product might grant the consumer access to her world. The institutional context is key here. Tobacco companies, seeking to build brand loyalty, were among the first to use mass-produced images. These cards, distributed with tobacco products, democratized access to celebrity images, making them available to a wider public beyond the theater. By examining advertising history and popular culture studies, we gain a deeper understanding of the role images played in shaping consumer desire and cultural values at the turn of the century.