"Annie Pixley" Advertising card

Date1890

DimensionsOverall: 6.4 x 3.6 cm

Credit LineGift of James MacDougall, London, Ontario, 1975

Object number1975.001.008

Label TextOne side of this circa 1890 cigarette card proclaims that Sweet Caporal cigarettes are “absolutely pure” and had sold “more than any other brands combined.” The other side of the card features a photograph of American actress, Annie Pixley (1858-1893). This was one of a series of collectable cards featuring actresses. The desire to have a complete collection drove sales of this and other cigarette brands. A popular stage actress of the 1870s, Annie Pixley was celebrated for her role as M'Liss in the play "M'Liss, Child of the Sierras" and as Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan’s "HMS Pinafore." Londoners flocked to the Grand Opera House to see her perform. Pixley also came to the London area with her husband, actor Robert Fulford, for rest and relaxation. When their 12-year-old son died in 1886, he was buried at Woodland Cemetery. When Pixley died in 1893, her husband placed her ashes with their son. He later built a the Fulford - Pixley Mausoleum at the cemetery.

NameCard, Trade