From the Sports Girls series (N463) for Old Port Plug Tobacco
ca. 1889
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.226.463.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming small-scale print belongs to the "Sports Girls" series (N463), produced around 1889 by Old Port Plug Tobacco as a colorful advertising insert. Measuring just 2¾ by 1½ inches, it is a commercial color lithograph designed to be tucked into packages of chewing tobacco. The diminutive format made these cards highly collectible, turning everyday purchases into opportunities for visual entertainment and light education about emerging athletic pastimes. In the late nineteenth century, tobacco manufacturers pioneered the use of colorful lithographed cards to build brand loyalty, and the...