(Source of picture: Florida State Archives)

"YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY" -- This alluring publicity shot shows Anna Q. Nilsson, a silent film actress in Jacksonville in about 1915.  A smoking woman was considered rather provocative at the time.

Well-known during her heyday, Nilsson was often compared to fellow Swedish actress Greta Garbo.  Born in 1888, Nilsson migrated to the US in 1905 and eventually began to work in films for the Kalem Company.  In 1928, about 12 years after the picture above was taken, her career as a leading lady came crashing down when she took a bad fall from horseback.  Her broken hip never healed properly, and she didn't appear on screen again until 1933. 

Nilsson did make a comeback, though, as a supporting character actress in some of the most popular films of the 1930s, '40s, & '50s.   Her best-known movies from this period include "Sunset Boulevard," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," and "Adam's Rib." Nilsson died in 1974.  She's now immortalized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 Incidentally, the "Q" stands for Quirentia.