Santa Barbara, from the Fancy Bathers series (N187) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Santa Barbara* from the Fancy Bathers series (N187), a petite commercial color lithograph produced by William S. Kimball & Company in 1889. Issued as part of promotional inserts for Kimball's cigarette packs, this ephemera captures the era's obsession with leisure and idealized femininity. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it features a profile of a woman, evoking the stylish bathers of seaside resorts—perhaps nodding to California's sunny Santa Barbara coastline. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthrough in mass-produced color printing, layering vibrant hues through multiple stone plates for eye-catching detail on a tiny scale. This technique democratized art, turning everyday tobacco products into collectible treasures that blurred lines between commerce and culture. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, *Santa Barbara* highlights Victorian America's blend of recreation and romance. These "fancy bathers" cards fueled a booming trade card craze, offering glimpses of emerging women's fashion and the allure of vacation escapes, preserved as delightful snapshots of Gilded Age whimsy.

About the Artist

William S. Kimball & Company · 1850–1950

**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...