Hammock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 3) issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Hammock, from Novelties series (228, Type 3)*, a delightful chromolithograph issued by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1889 This petite, round card—measuring just 1 9/16 inches across—was one of many collectible inserts packaged with tobacco products, designed to captivate smokers and spark a collecting craze. Produced during the height of the "trade card" boom, it exemplifies how companies like Kinney Bros. used eye-catching imagery to promote their brands amid fierce competition in the Gilded Age tobacco market. Crafted via commercial color lithography, a revolutionary printing technique that allowed for vivid, multi-hued reproductions at scale, the card features elegant profiles of women, evoking themes of leisure and femininity. Its delicate scale and ephemera classification highlight the era's disposable yet treasured novelties, blending artistry with commerce. Tags like "Profiles|Women" suggest a stylized silhouette of a woman reclining in a hammock, symbolizing relaxed summer idylls popular in Victorian visual culture. Today, this gem from The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers a window into everyday history—how everyday objects became cultural artifacts, preserved as prints that whisper stories of innovation, consumerism, and allure.

About the Artist

Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011

**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...