Criger, St. Louis, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company
1909–11
Medium
Commercial lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 x 1 7/16 in. (6.7 x 3.7 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
63.350.246.206.150
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the early 20th-century world of America's pastime with *Criger, St. Louis, American*, a gem from the renowned T206 White Border series produced by the American Tobacco Company 1909 and 1911. This petite commercial lithograph (just 2 5/8 x 1 7/16 inches) captures Lou Criger, a skilled catcher for the St. Browns of the American League, in a portrait pose. Issued as inserts in cigarette packs, these cards were savvy marketing tools that fueled the growing baseball craze while promoting tobacco products—ephemera that transformed into priceless collectibles. Lithography, the medium here,...
About the Artist
American Tobacco Company
**American Tobacco Company (1890–1911)** Founded on January 31, 1890, in Durham, North Carolina, by James Buchanan Duke, the American Tobacco Company emerged from the consolidation of five major U.S. tobacco manufacturers: W. Duke & Sons, Allen & Ginter, Goodwin & Company, W.S. Kimball & Co., and Kinney Brothers. Under Duke's aggressive leadership, it rapidly achieved monopoly status, controlling...