Card 2, from the Girl Baseball Players series (N48, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1886 - 1888

This is "Card 2, from the Girl Baseball Players series," a lithograph created by Allen & Ginter for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. This card is from a series that offered a progressive vision of women in sport. In the late 19th century in the United States, women were actively campaigning for suffrage and educational opportunities. They were also becoming more involved in sports, challenging notions of femininity and physical capability. Cigarette cards like this were a novel form of advertising. It's interesting to consider the complex message of this card. On one hand, tobacco companies were keen to associate their products with positive imagery, using the appeal of a female baseball player. On the other, there may have been genuine public interest in these women. As an art historian, I would want to research the history of women’s baseball in the United States, looking for visual evidence in popular magazines and newspapers, to better understand the social forces at play. The meaning of this image resides as much in that social history, as in the image itself.