Dorgan, Batter, New York, 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
63.350.222.284.112
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This small but captivating color lithograph from 1887 belongs to the Gold Coin series (N284) issued by D. Buchner & Co. of New York as a promotional insert for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco. Measuring just over three by one and three-quarters inches, the card depicts a baseball batter identified as “Dorgan” of New York, rendered in the vibrant, flat colors typical of commercial printing of the era. Produced as ephemera meant to be discarded once the tobacco was used, such cards were among the earliest mass-market baseball collectibles and helped popularize the sport’s growing stars. The medium—a commercial color lithograph reproducing a drawing—allowed tobacco companies to distribute affordable, eye-catching images to a broad public. These cards reflect the late-nineteenth-century convergence of emerging advertising practices, the rise of professional baseball, and advances in color printing technology. By featuring recognizable athletes, manufacturers turned everyday purchases into opportunities for collecting and trading, laying the groundwork for today’s sports-card hobby. Now preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, the card demonstrates how everyday printed ephemera can illuminate both the history of American popular culture and the evolution of graphic design. Its presence in a museum setting invites visitors to consider the artistic and social value of objects originally created for fleeting commercial purposes.
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...