Card Number 82, Carrie Turner, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-1) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

Editor: This is "Card Number 82, Carrie Turner, from the Actors and Actresses series," made in the 1880s by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It’s a photo or print promoting Cross Cut Cigarettes. The sepia tone and the subject's direct gaze are striking. What’s your perspective on this piece? Curator: I see this less as a portrait and more as a commodity. Duke Sons & Co. weren’t creating art, they were leveraging the allure of actresses like Carrie Turner to move a product. Consider the industrial printing processes that allowed them to mass-produce these cards, essentially turning a person into a miniature advertisement. Editor: So you're saying the focus isn't on Turner herself, but on her image being reproduced for consumption? Curator: Exactly. The "art" here is in the clever marketing, the way they capitalized on celebrity culture to sell cigarettes. What are the social implications of associating beauty and fame with a highly addictive product? And how does this commercial function change our perception of photography as art? Is this "high art" or "low craft"? I’m curious. Editor: It's fascinating to consider how these images, intended as disposable ads, now reside in a museum. Does that shift their meaning? Curator: Absolutely. Their context has changed. But by examining the means of production, the paper quality, the printing techniques, the very idea of a collectible card inserted into cigarette packs, we understand more about the society that created and consumed them. They are primary material for our social and consumer past. Editor: This really changes how I see the artwork! I was initially focused on the actress, but now I am considering labor and industry in 19th-century America. Curator: And how these objects become intertwined with concepts of beauty, celebrity, and even addiction. All material has a context. Editor: Thank you. I appreciate learning the production, distribution, and societal components within the framework of artwork analysis.