National League Fine Cut Tobacco Advertising Card

The most entertaining and finely designed of all baseball trade cards, I believe, is this one for fine cut chewing tobacco produced around 1880 in Detroit. The brand was National League and a pitcher, still throwing underhand, is the foremost image. My guess of 1880 reflects the appearance of the uniform, but also the fact that overhand pitching, as is the method today, was not allowed in the major leagues until 1882. The stance of the pitcher was the legally accepted form of delivery in the National League at that time.This card is colorful and loaded with information. But, the card does not excel because of any of its individual features, the action figure in the foreground, the game on the large field going on in the background, the banners erected to display the type, or the decorative shields strategically placed. The image works so well because all its parts interact in a strange harmony of color and design elements to form a unified and handsome whole in which no element seems out of place. The nice thing about this individual example of this card, is that the registration is tight, and all the colors look sharp and right. And since the card is rare to start with, if you want one properly printed, it becomes super-rare.