Edwin Bibby, Catch as Catch Can- Wrestler, from World's Champions, Second Series (N43) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This color lithograph of Edwin Bibby, a ‘catch as catch can’ wrestler, was one of a series inserted in Allen & Ginter Cigarettes packs. This was part of an innovation in marketing in the late nineteenth century, when tobacco companies sought to boost sales through promotional collectible cards. The cards offered idealized images of athletes, actors, and other figures who appealed to the public imagination. Here, Edwin Bibby is valorized in the tradition of classical sculpture, with a focus on the idealized male form. This association with the fine arts lent status to the tobacco brand. The imagery also served to reassure middle-class customers that smoking was compatible with physical fitness. As a historian, I’m interested in how these small commercial images reveal the social and cultural values of the time. Researching the business history of Allen and Ginter, as well as period sources on tobacco use, gives insight into the values they were hoping to appeal to.