The Wonderful Shot, from the Magic Changing Cards series (N223) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *The Wonderful Shot*, a gem from the Magic Changing Cards series (N), issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in 9. This petite commercial color lithograph, just 2¾ × 1½ inches, captures the thrill of a hunting scene featuring men, dogs, and firearms—oking the era's fascination with outdoor sports and marksmanship. As part of a promotional series tucked into cigarette packs, these were designed to delight collectors with their "magic" optical effects, likely transforming when tilted or viewed from different angles. Lithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by allowing vivid, multi-color images on a commercial scale, making high-quality art accessible to everyday smokers. Kinney's innovative cards blended entertainment with branding, turning tobacco products into coveted collectibles. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department from the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera highlights how everyday objects preserved slices of American culture—from rugged individualism to the booming trade card craze of the Gilded Age. Today, *The Wonderful Shot* reminds us of advertising's playful power and the artistry in the ephemeral, offering a window into late Victorian leisure and ingenuity.

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...