Bellows, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 5) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 7/8 × 1 9/16 in. (7.3 × 4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
Burdick 218, N228.203
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Bellows*, a charming commercial color lithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's "Novelties" seriesN228, Type 5), produced in 1889. This petite print, measuring just 2 7/8 × 1 9/16 inches, was likely a collectible insert in cigarette packs, part of a popular trend where tobacco firms enticed consumers—especially young men and boys—with whimsical trading cards. Personifying everyday objects like bellows (traditional fire-stoking tools) through images of women, it captures the playful novelty culture of the Gilded Age. Crafted...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...