There Once Was a Person Named Esau..., from the Magic Changing Cards series (N223) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company 1889

Editor: Here we have “There Once Was a Person Named Esau…,” a print from 1889 by the Kinney Tobacco Company. It’s a rather… melancholy drawing of a man with a glass in his hand. What's your take on this piece? Curator: It’s interesting, isn’t it? More than just a drawing, I see it as a little window into the anxieties of the time, a time grappling with industrialization and rapidly shifting social norms. The figure seems almost… spectral, clinging to a bygone era even as the world speeds past. It also feels cautionary, you know? Editor: A cautionary tale? The poem at the bottom hints at it, doesn't it? About the perils of drinking too much? Curator: Exactly! Though, I wonder if the intent was purely moral. Think about it: a tobacco company issuing a warning about vices? Or is there a shared sense of unease reflected across their wares. This little print feels incredibly fragile, doesn't it? Almost like a wisp of smoke, a fading memory... Editor: You're right, the impermanence of a smoking card seems fitting given the poem's content. But it seems a little bleak still, doesn't it? Curator: Maybe! Or maybe, it's a darkly humorous wink. The best art often holds those delicious contradictions, leaving space for our own projections. What do *you* think it's saying? Editor: I hadn't considered the humour aspect. I was too caught up in the moral warning, the slightly haunted feeling...I think you've changed my perspective, which I guess, is what a great artwork is supposed to do, right? Curator: Indeed! Now go forth and haunt a museum or two!