Pelty, St. Louis, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company 1909 - 1911

This baseball card of Pelty of St. Louis was printed by the American Tobacco Company, as part of the T206 White Border series. It’s a humble object made of mass-produced card stock, with a chromolithographic image. The flat, graphic quality of this card reflects its industrial origins. Chromolithography, a color printing technique, allowed for inexpensive reproductions. We see a lot of these kinds of printing jobs around this time being used for advertising. This was a clever way to promote smoking, by including collectible cards in cigarette packs. The image itself is interesting. It depicts Pelty in his baseball uniform with a plain background. The pose is somewhat generic. It was designed to be recognizable and appealing to baseball fans who were buying cigarettes. So while this card may seem simple, it encapsulates the convergence of sports, advertising, and mass production in early 20th-century America. It reminds us that even the most everyday objects can reveal fascinating insights into our cultural history, and how industries find ways to engage with the public.