Title
Cigarette Card depicting a photograph of 'Ruth'
Dimensions
height: 6cm
width: 4cm
Inscription/signature
'Ogden's Guinea Gold Cigarettes'
Provenance
Donated by a member in September 2018
Other number
E0045
Bromide photographic cigarette card published by Ogedens for Ogden's Guinea Gold Tobbacco. Published between c.1899-1907. These belong to a set of 47 (24 of the larger size and 23 of the smaller size cards) depicting contemporary singers, dancers and actresses.
This card possibly depicts the American dancer, Ruth St Denis (1879-1968), before she added the St Denis to her name. She made her name by introducing eastern methods of dance into her routine. She later co-founded the Denis Shawn School of Dancing and Related Arts with her husband, Denis Shawn.
Cigarette cards began life as a simple card used as a "stiffener" to help keep the cigarettes from damage. Tobacco companies soon realised that these could be used for advertising and promoting brand loyalty and so began printing collectable pictures onto the "Stiffeners". Cigarette cards were produced in series of 25, 50, or 100 and the themes ranged from sport, entertainment, geography to personalities of the day.