Card Number 120, Laura Burt, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Card Number 120 was produced by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes using mass production techniques typical of the late 19th century. This card, featuring actress Laura Burt, would have been printed using photo-lithography, a process involving the transfer of a photographic image onto a stone or metal plate, and then printed in large quantities. The sepia tone and the texture of the card stock give the image a soft, aged appearance. The high production volume belies the card's small size. Such cards were integral to the burgeoning consumer culture, demonstrating how images of celebrities were circulated to promote mass-produced goods like cigarettes. Consider the labor involved in creating such a card. From the photographers and lithographers to the factory workers packaging cigarettes with these inserts, this card is a tangible reminder of the intersection of art, commerce, and labor in the Gilded Age. It underscores how capitalist modes of production permeated even the most intimate aspects of daily life. By understanding this context, we can appreciate the card not just as a piece of ephemera, but as a cultural artifact, that reflects the material conditions of its time.