Maggie Mitchell, from the Actresses and Celebrities series (N60, Type 1) promoting Little Beauties Cigarettes for Allen & Ginter brand tobacco products 1887

Editor: This is "Maggie Mitchell, from the Actresses and Celebrities series" made in 1887 by Allen & Ginter, it's a photographic print. It feels like a glamour shot, very faded, like a ghost from the past. How should we interpret this image today? Curator: It’s interesting that you call it a glamour shot because in its historical context it speaks volumes about the commercialization of femininity and celebrity culture in the late 19th century. Actresses like Maggie Mitchell were becoming public figures, their images commodities. Editor: A commodity, how so? Curator: Consider how this image was used: as a promotional card for “Little Beauties Cigarettes." It overtly connects female beauty and public figures with the allure of tobacco. Doesn’t it make you question the ethics of using women’s images to sell harmful products? Editor: Absolutely! I hadn't thought about it that way. It is disturbing to see it in that light, not just an innocent image. Curator: Precisely! This card reflects broader societal issues around gender, labor, and consumerism during that period. What does the term "Little Beauties" imply about how women were viewed? Editor: It definitely infantilizes women, doesn't it? Reducing them to objects of delicate beauty...or perhaps, easily consumed beauty. Curator: Yes, that’s right, this complicates any simplistic reading of portraiture or realism. By drawing the explicit line from actress, to cigarette brand, we realize the mechanisms of visual rhetoric used to market vice and ideals of beauty. Editor: I'm seeing so many layers that I completely missed at first. Curator: That is exactly the point. These images act as portals into broader, crucial conversations around gender roles and marketing!