Strauss, Batter, Milwaukee, 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
63.350.222.284.89
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1887 color lithograph belongs to the Gold Coin series issued by D. Buchner & Co. of New York to promote its chewing tobacco. Measuring just over three inches tall, the card features Milwaukee batter Strauss poised at the plate, rendered in the bright, flat tones typical of commercial printing. Produced as an advertising premium, such cards were tucked into tobacco packages both to protect the product and to encourage brand loyalty among customers. In the late nineteenth century, baseball’s rising popularity made these small prints highly collectible. D. Buchner & Co. created doz...
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...