Card Number 50, Frankie Kimble, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

This is card number 50, Frankie Kimble, from the Actors and Actresses series, made by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes. The pose is intriguing; she leans casually, her gaze direct, the image radiating a charm intended to capture the viewer's eye and imagination. In antiquity, such a pose was reserved for depictions of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and desire. Observe how the slight incline of her head, seen so often in Renaissance portraits, echoes a deliberate artistic choice to create a sense of familiarity. This echoes the way our ancestors memorialized loved ones. Even the ornate background patterns, reminiscent of ancient textiles, evoke a sense of timelessness. The cigarette card thus becomes more than mere advertisement, tapping into subconscious associations of beauty and theatrical allure. It’s a symbol of how our desires, mediated through images, perpetuate through the ages, ever-changing yet eternally familiar.