Card Number 85, Agnes Folsom, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: An unusual artifact! This is Card Number 85 from the "Actors and Actresses" series, featuring Agnes Folsom. It's an albumen print, dating from the 1880s, issued by Duke Sons & Co. as a promotional item for their Cameo Cigarettes. Editor: The first impression I get is playful. The background seems romantic, an implied outdoor location. The woman, Agnes, almost pops from the card due to her lighter colored apparel, positioned towards the viewer’s front. Curator: Notice the carefully calibrated arrangement of the text in relation to the image. The brand name is given prominence, framing the subject and turning the portrait into an advertisement. Editor: I find the setting intriguing, if one digs slightly below the surface: the presence of garden-like elements suggests leisure, a certain elevated class, maybe wealth, that probably aligned well with how the cigarette brand wanted to be perceived back then. Curator: Indeed. There is a structural tension created by juxtaposing commercial appeal with a staged outdoor experience. I would point to how her positioning forms strong vertical and diagonal lines which support that narrative thrust. Editor: I wonder about Agnes herself. The cigarette cards tell me how popular images circulated during the late 19th century, of course, but they also highlight the popular obsession with performers – stars in their own rights whose visages served as valuable symbols worth distributing by commerce. I am curious about what impact this commercial popularity would have upon Ms. Folsom. Curator: A keen observation. Looking at the interplay between foreground and background, light and shadow, a certain compositional sophistication exists in such commercial cards of the time. This specific combination is compelling beyond any intention that it might serve in marketing a brand of cigarette, and suggests instead a work worthy of artistic attention. Editor: Exactly. As ephemera such items suggest larger historical and cultural connections related to gender, commodification, entertainment…It all converges in one little card! Curator: I will now re-approach the item with greater attention to its symbolic value – perhaps beyond formal elements. Editor: And, I might start paying even closer attention to visual composition! It shows how approaches to objects always change as the objects continue speaking to us.