St. Priac, France, from the Surf Beauties series (N232), issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century advertising with *St. Priac,, from the Surf Beauties series (N232)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1889 This petite card (just 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 inches) captures the allure of coastal elegance, likely depicting a stylish woman at the fashionable French resort of Saint-Priac-sur-Mer. Part of a popular series of "Surf Beauties," these inserts were tucked into cigarette packs to entice collectors and promote the brand, reflecting the era's growing obsession with seaside leisure and glamorous travel. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by layering vibrant colors through multiple stone plates, creating vivid, eye-catching images affordable for everyday consumers. Kinney Bros. excelled in this technique, producing series that blended exotic locales with idealized femininity—think Victorian swimsuit fashion meets international escapism. As ephemera, these cards were disposable yet collectible, offering a window into Gilded Age marketing and women's portrayal in popular culture. Today, this gem from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection highlights how everyday tobacco promotions became artful treasures, preserved for their snapshot of 1880s whimsy and wanderlust. A delightful reminder of advertising's artistic flair!

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...