A Happy New Year, from the New Years 1890 series (N227) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889 - 1890

This color lithograph, titled *A Happy New Year*, was created around 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company as part of a larger series of New Year's greetings. At a time when tobacco companies were pervasive in popular culture, we see an advertisement masquerading as a celebratory token. In this image, winged figures play amongst bells and holly, while birds carry wishes for a 'Happy New Year', seemingly delivering a message of goodwill. The illustration is awash with a Victorian-era sentimentality, an idealized vision that veils the realities of industrial capitalism and the labor practices of the tobacco industry. While it may seem like an innocent greeting, consider what it means to create an image for mass consumption, knowing its appeal relies on fantasy rather than reality. This work offers a glimpse into how commercial imagery can both shape and reflect societal values, desires, and even its blind spots.