Edward Hanlan, Champion Sculler of America, from the Champions of Games and Sports series (N184, Type 1) issued by W.S. Kimball & Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th American sports culture with this petite commercial color lithograph,Edward Hanlan, Championuller of America*, from W.S. Kimball & Cos *Champions of Games and* series (N184, Type 1), produced in 1887. At just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, this ephemera captures the dashing figure of Edward Hanlan, legendary Canadian-American rower who dominated sculling competitions as world champion. Issued by the tobacco company Kimball, these cards were tucked into cigarette packages as clever marketing ploys, turning everyday smokers into collectors of athletic icons. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commercial printing with its vivid, multi-layered colors achieved through stone-based lithography—a technique perfect for mass-producing eye-catching images at low cost. This card exemplifies the Gilded Age's obsession with heroes of emerging modern sports like rowing, blending celebrity worship with consumer culture. Hanlan's poised athleticism symbolizes the era's ideals of strength and competition, when rowing races drew massive crowds along U.S. rivers. Today, preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection (a gift from the pioneering ephemera collector himself), this tiny print offers a window into how commerce fueled our fascination with sports stardom—proving even the smallest artifacts pack a punch.

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...