John Ward, Retired, New York, from the Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball series (N300)
Medium
Commercial lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 13/16 × 1 5/8 in. (7.2 × 4.1 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 222, N300.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s America with this charming commercial lithograph, *John Ward, Retired, New*, from the Mayo's Cut Plug Baseball series (N). Produced by P.H. Mayo & Brother a Richmond, Virginia tobacco company, this tiny card (just 2 13/16 × 1 5/8 inches) was designed for insertion into packs of their chewing tobacco. Issued in 1895, it captures the era's booming baseball craze, when the sport was exploding in popularity as a national pastime, drawing massive crowds and fostering early celebrity athletes. The portrait honors John Montgomery Ward, a pioneering figure in base...