Marie Studholme, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 8) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This small card featuring Marie Studholme, an actress, was produced by Allen & Ginter for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. It's a lithograph, a type of print made using a stone or metal plate, allowing for mass production. The card stock gives the image a tactile quality; its light weight and size made it perfect for collecting. The lithographic process, though mechanical, still required skilled labor to transfer the image and apply the colors. In its time, the card would have been a promotional item, a piece of ephemera meant to be consumed and then perhaps discarded. The fact that it survives today speaks to our enduring fascination with celebrity and the material culture of everyday life. It reminds us that even the most seemingly insignificant objects can offer valuable insights into the social and economic conditions of their time, blurring the lines between art, commerce, and popular culture.