Your Health! And a Happy New Year, from the New Years 1890 series (N227) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889 - 1890

Curator: Let's examine this curious piece, "Your Health! And a Happy New Year," part of the New Years 1890 series (N227) by Kinney Bros., dating from 1889 to 1890. It employs a combination of drawing techniques, including colored pencil, watercolor, and ink, printed onto what appears to be a card format. What strikes you initially? Editor: The utter decadence, darling! A gent in full evening attire, slightly dishevelled, already halfway into his celebratory claret, even has a little snack tray for later. You just know his New Year's resolution went out the window precisely .05 seconds after the ball dropped! Curator: Precisely. The composition certainly aims for a certain impression of celebratory abandon. Notice the division of space; the figure occupies the left side, balanced by the textual greeting to the right. The colour palette, though muted, serves to highlight the subject. Can you comment on how colour impacts the meaning? Editor: It's a lovely restrained bacchanal of yore. A smidge Impressionistic maybe? The fuzzy peach hue in the background evokes that boozy, candle-lit atmosphere, which I bet looked fabulous in a parlor or gentlemen's club with someone who was smoking a tobacco product from the company who created it. Curator: Your point regarding potential patronage adds a fascinating layer. The use of line is equally noteworthy. The lettering, delicate and somewhat calligraphic, contrasts with the more gestural rendering of the figure. We see visual harmony arising from contrasting design elements in play here. Editor: True enough. Though, personally, it's the man’s slightly manic, definitely tipsy, gaze that anchors it. What future does he think is in store? It captures a brief flash between the years—between reflection and anticipation—before the hangover crashes down! There is also an inherent performativity within the card format of advertisement which adds to the dynamism of the design. Curator: Yes, a fine point about liminal space. Advertising cards such as these had the practical intent of selling something--tobacco, in this instance. The implied promise of conviviality surely formed an element in Kinney Bros.' market strategy during this moment of economic and cultural history. This is where careful artistic craft and commercialism begin to intersect. What a thought. Editor: Totally. Who knows? Maybe we're analyzing the Mona Lisa of tobacco ads. Seriously though, for such a small token it has big ambitions!