Pelty, St. Louis, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company
1909–11
Medium
Commercial lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 7/16 x 2 5/8 in. (3.7 x 6.7 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
63.350.246.206.165
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the early days of America's pastime with *Pelty, St. Louis, American League*, a gem from the legendary T206 White Border series produced by the American Tobacco Company between 1909 and 1911. This petite commercial lithograph (just 1 7/16 x 2 5/8 inches) captures Barney Pelty, a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns of the American League, in a classic portrait pose. Issued as inserts in cigarette packs, these cards were savvy marketing tools that fueled baseball's growing fandom while promoting tobacco products. Lithography, the medium here, enabled vibrant, mass-produced color printing...
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...