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

Curator: Let's explore "Happy New Year, from the New Years 1890 series (N227) issued by Kinney Bros." a coloured-pencil print produced around 1889-1890. Editor: My first impression is one of lighthearted festivity, though rendered with what seems like a rigid formality. It’s this unusual mix that really grabs my attention. I immediately want to know how such images functioned within the consumer landscape of their time. Curator: Absolutely. Kinney Brothers were, of course, a major tobacco company. These cards offer insight into how industrial manufacturers used popular imagery to build brand identity and target specific consumer demographics through themes of luxury, aspiration, and national pride. Considering theories about social mobility in the late 19th century helps to reveal who they targeted with this image of shifting power. Editor: Yes, consider the materials themselves. The printmaking process democratized image production on a massive scale, linking it directly to commodity culture. These cards were disposable, distributed to advertise tobacco—items linked to growing industrialism and leisure. But I do see that the texture implies something almost closer to craft, perhaps giving an artistic boost to mass-produced items. Curator: This aesthetic quality matters for understanding the aspirational dimension of advertising, certainly, and thinking about audience reception. What is gained through the depiction of children, here? The illustration visualizes a specific hierarchical framework featuring the youthful '1890' succeeding the bowing figure of '1889.' What’s more, gender factors significantly: it appears to only showcase males participating in the imagined exchange of power. Editor: I see what you mean—gendered implications emerge with its hierarchical framework. The old year cedes to the new year’s future prosperity. Curator: Thinking intersectionally, the illustration highlights evolving perceptions of youth, power, and masculinity during that specific moment. Editor: Well, examining both the materiality and embedded meanings of this promotional print certainly casts new light on fin-de-siècle industrial practices and aspirations! Curator: Indeed. Approaching this piece from different perspectives highlights the many different social narratives imbedded within what appears to be an innocuous image.