Ten of Diamonds, College Go As You Please, 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, N220.51
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Ten of Diamonds, College Go As You Please*, a delightful card from the *Harlequin Cards, nd Series (N220 issued by the Kinney Tobacco Company in 188. Tucked into cigarette packs as promotional inserts, these tiny treasures—measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches—sparked a collecting craze among enthusiasts, blending playing card motifs with whimsical Harlequin themes evoking theatrical fun and collegiate mischief. Crafted as a commercial color lithograph, this ephemera exemplifies chromolithography's mastery: multiple stone plates l...
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...