Annie Oakley, Champion Lady Rifle Shot of the World, from the Champions of Games and Sports series (N184, Type 2) issued by W.S. Kimball & Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American celebrity with this petite chromolithograph featuring Annie Oakley, the "Champion Lady Rifle Shot the World." Produced in 1887 by W.S. Kimball & Co., tobacco company, this card is part of the *Champions of Games and* series (N184, Type 2). Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it captures Oakley's poised confidence, rifle in hand, embodying the era's fascination with sharpshooting stars from Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commercial printing by allowing vivid, multi-color images at low cost—perfect for promotional inserts in cigarette packs. These ephemera cards celebrated athletes and performers, blending advertising with popular culture and highlighting women's trailblazing roles in sports. Oakley's depiction underscores shifting gender norms, showcasing her as a skilled markswoman amid a male-dominated field. Today, housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this tiny print offers a window into Gilded Age spectacle and the commodification of fame, reminding us how everyday objects preserved icons of American ingenuity and grit.

About the Artist

W.S. Kimball & Co.

William S. Kimball & Co. was a tobacco manufacturer based in Rochester, New York, whose influence extended well beyond the cigarette trade into the realm of popular visual culture. Founded in 1846 by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart, the company grew into one of the largest tobacco concerns in the United States, erecting a landmark factory along the Erie Canal on Court Street in 1880. The buil...