He Seems Indeed a Good Young Man..., from the Magic Changing Cards series (N223) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company
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, N223.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of 19th-century advertising with *He Seems Indeed a Good Man...* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Magic Changing Cards* seriesN223), a delightful 1889 chromolithograph. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this tiny epa was tucked into cigarette packs as a promotional gimmick, enticing collectors—often young boys—with its playful magic theme. The title hints at a clever optical illusion: tilt the card, and the image transforms, revealing a cheeky surprise tied to themes of men and magic. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough in mass color printing, allowed v...
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...