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

This small chromolithograph, “Wishing You a Happy New Year,” was one of a series of New Year’s cards distributed by Kinney Bros. Tobacco Company in 1890. Here, Father Time is represented in the conventional manner, as an aged winged man with a scythe. He leads a young boy, symbolizing the New Year. Although the Victorians embraced elaborate mourning rituals, death was not sentimentalized in the way we might expect. Representations of the New Year as a child being led, sometimes unwillingly, toward his fate were quite common. Cards like this offer us a glimpse into the concerns and preoccupations of the late 19th century. If we want to understand the social conditions that shape artistic production, ephemeral items such as trade cards, advertisements, and greeting cards can offer an invaluable insight. Understanding such imagery requires research into the social and institutional context of its production.