Scotch, Fisher Girl, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th advertising with *Scotch, Fisher Girl from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Types of Nationalities* series (N240), produced in 1890. This petite commercial color lithograph captures a young Scottish fisher girl in profile, embodying the era's fascination with ethnic stereotypes and folk costumes. Issued as collectible trading cards tucked into cigarette packs, these ephemera were marketing genius—enticing smokers while sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts. The medium shines through in its bold, chromolithographed hues, a technique perfected in the late 1800s for affordable mass production. Lithography allowed intricate details like the girl's windswept hair, shawl, and traditional attire to pop vividly on the tiny sheet (unfolded: 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in.), designed to fold neatly for portability. Part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, it highlights how everyday commerce fueled popular art, blending cultural portraiture with consumer culture. Today, this card offers a window into Victorian-era exoticism, where "types" of nationalities romanticized global identities. A charming snapshot of history in your pocket!

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...