Burns, 3rd Base, Chicago, from the Gold Coin series (N284) for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco

Art Historical Context

This charming 1887 colorograph, titled “Burn, 3rd, Chicago,” belongs to Gold Coin series (284) issued by D. Buchner Co. of New York promote its chewing tobacco Measuring just over three by one-and-three-quarters inches, card reproduces a drawn portrait of the Chicago White Stockings third in his striped uniform, complete with small advertisement on the reverse Produced by commercial lithography such cards were among the mass-market collectibles, into packages of tobacco as marketing tools and miniatureakes for fans. In 1880s baseball’s growing popularity made ideal spokesmen for everyday products. Tobacco companies capitalized on this enthusiasm by commissioning colorful portraits that ordinary purchases into opportunities for collecting and trading. The crisp lines and bright hues of these lithographs captured the era’s athletic heroes in a format accessible working-class audiences, helping to cement baseball’s place in American popular culture. Today, this card forms part of the Museum’s Jefferson R. Burdick Collection of printed ephemera. Its presence in a museum highlights how commercial prints once intended for brief enjoyment now serve as valuable records of nineteenth-century design, advertising, and the early history of professional sports.

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...