From our private archive.
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A late 19th-century illustration of a young lady reading ghost stories, used to advertise a patent medicine. (The back of the trade card extolling the wonders of the elixir can be seen below.)
In the days before photography took over the advertising world, artists would frequently copy images of famous figures as models. These drawings and paintings would be used to market products having absolutely no connection to the celebrity whose likeness had been borrowed; if anyone complained, the artist could always plead that they weren't really portraying [Celebrity X], just someone who happened to look like them.
Note the similarity between the woman in the Ghost Story picture and a young queen Victoria, and also the resemblance of the portrait in the background to Victoria's consort Prince Albert.
Note the similarity between the woman in the Ghost Story picture and a young queen Victoria, and also the resemblance of the portrait in the background to Victoria's consort Prince Albert.
 Portrait of Queen Victoria from the Royal Collection |  Portrait of Prince Albert from http://philipmould.com/browse-art/old-masters/19th-century/prince-albert-chalon |
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