Baseball Depicted in Tobacco Ads

Pictorial advertising labels embellished commercial American cigar and tobacco boxes and bags as early as the 1840s. beginning in the 1860s, they depicted baseball scenes. Printers made great strides in producing color after 1850, and the labels became increasingly ornate and decorative. Tobacco manufacturers and distributors selling Cuban cigars or Virginian and Turkish leaf vied with each other to attract buyers with bold, vibrant and contemporary scenes.