Picture This: Baseball Advertising Hits it Out of the Park

Baseball Advertising Hits it Out of the Park By Kristi Finefield The following is a guest post by Jan Grenci, Reference Specialist for Posters in the Prints and Photographs Division – as well as a long-suffering Pittsburgh Pirates fan. For almost as long as the game has been played, baseball imagery has been used to advertise a wide variety of products. These items from the Prints and Photographs Division are in a league of their own! Would the well-dressed fan be grandstanding if he or she wore these hat bands and collars to a game? The Wick Fancy Hat Bands. Cheer up – Show your Colors. Poster (chromolithograph), c1910. https://ift.tt/29w36JT The Base Ball Collar. Lithograph copyrighted by Stiefel & Co., c1869. https://ift.tt/1U77r3D No one would be caught flat-footed if they were polkaing to these tunes: Home run polka. Composed by Mrs. Bodell of Washington, and respectfully dedicated to the National Baseball Club of Washington, D.C. Lithograph by L. N. Rosenthal, 1867. https://ift.tt/2PfZzR4 Base Ball Polka. Lithograph published by C.F. Escher, 1867. https://ift.tt/2ODpVvc From out of left field come these ads for pest extermination: "Sure Catch" sticky fly paper. Chromolithograph, between 1853 and 1898. https://ift.tt/2vPHFwq Use Getz cockroach and bed bug exterminators, sold by all druggists. Chromolithograph, between 1870 and 1890. https://ift.tt/2KXwSoA And finally, these two posters advertising the game itself cover all the bases: [Stock poster showing runner sliding past catcher] Chromolithograph by Strobridge Lith. Co., c1897. https://ift.tt/2vNzYqD Biddefords vs. Portlands Granite St. grounds, Biddeford, Friday, May 22. Lithograph and letterpress print published by John B. Sage, 1885. https://ift.tt/2KXwoyM Ultimately, I don't know if any of these ads were a hit or if they struck out with consumers, but they sure are fun to look at! Learn More: Explore prints related to baseball in the Popular Graphic Arts Collection in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. View over 2,000 early baseball cards, dating from 1887 to 1914, in the fully digitized Benjamin K. Edwards Collection. Read more about the background and scope of the collection. Explore the online components of the Library of Congress exhibit: Baseball Americana. The exhibit will be on display in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress until Summer 2019. Published August 16, 2018 at 09:32AM Read more on https://loc.gov Manage this Applet Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.