Example of card verso from Harlequin Cards, 2nd Series (N220) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 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, N220.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming example of a card verso from the Harlequin Cards, 2nd Series (N220), issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in 1889, offers a glimpse into late 19th-century American advertising culture. Produced as promotional inserts in cigarette packs, these small trading cards were wildly popular collectibles, enticing smokers—especially young men—with vibrant illustrations of harlequin figures inspired by the playful, masked characters of commedia dell'arte theater. Kinney Bros., a prominent tobacco firm, released multiple series like this one, turning everyday ephemera into coveted k...
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...