Pfeffer, 2nd Base, Chicago, from the Gold Coin series (N284) for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph reproducing drawing
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 x 1 3/4 in. (7.7 x 4.5 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
63.350.222.284.74
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1887 trade card, titled *Pfeffer, 2nd Base,*, comes from the Gold Coin series (N284) issued by D. Buchner & Co. of New York to promote Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco. Measuring just over three by one and three-quarters inches, it features a portrait of Chicago White Stockings second baseman Fred Pfeffer, one of many baseball players whose images appeared on these small promotional inserts. In the late nineteenth century, as baseball’s popularity surged, tobacco companies pioneered the use of such cards to encourage repeat purchases—laying the foundation for today’s beloved hobby of co...
About the Artist
D. Buchner & Co., New York · 1850–1900
D. Buchner & Co. was a New York-based tobacco manufacturer prominent in the American market during the 1880s, best known today for its Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco brand and the vivid trade cards the company inserted into its product packaging to drive consumer loyalty. The firm was one of numerous tobacco companies that, during the boom years of American commercial printing, recognized the marketing...