Groom, Washington, 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
63.350.246.206.181
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the early 20th-century world of America's pastime with this charming commercial lithograph from the legendary T206 White Border series, produced by the American Tobacco Company 1909 and 1911. Titled *Groom, Washington, American League*, it features a of the baseball player from the Washington team, capturing the essence of the dead-ball era when strategy and pitching dominated the sport. These pocket-sized cards (just 2⅝ × 1⁷⁄₁₆ inches) were tucked into cigarette packs as clever marketing incentives, sparking a collecting frenzy that endures today. As ephemera in the Metropolitan Mu...
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...