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

Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company produced this New Year’s card around 1890 as part of a series, offering it as a gift with their tobacco products. In the late 19th century, such cards reflected a burgeoning consumer culture and idealized images of femininity. The young woman depicted embodies the era’s aesthetic ideals, with her delicate features, elaborate attire, and the mistletoe she carries symbolizing both innocence and a subtle invitation. These cards were among the first types of mass advertising. The Kinney Brothers were quite innovative in including these cards with their tobacco, increasing sales of their product. Consider, though, how these tokens of goodwill were financed by the addictive qualities of tobacco, a product whose health consequences were not fully understood at the time. This card then becomes not just a simple greeting, but a complex artifact reflecting the social and ethical ambiguities inherent in consumer culture.