One of the most unique forms of baseball memorabilia collecting involves vintage chewing tobacco brands, specifically the brands that included baseball cards as incentives in their product packaging from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. While cigarette brands also issued baseball cards in their products at times, none had as lengthy and storied a history of using the sport to market their goods as Red Man chewing tobacco.
Red Man chewing tobacco first hit the market in 1869, produced by the Pinkerton Tobacco Company in Louisville, Kentucky. The brand quickly became a popular choice for chewing by many Americans and was a staple in general stores across the country. In an effort to boost sales even further, Pinkerton decided around 1888 to include small cardboard inserts picturing baseball players in packages of Red Man plug tobacco. These early inserts were essentially just promotional pieces with no stats or biographical information on the back, but they ignited the now long-lasting tradition of Red Man baseball cards appealing to fans of the national pastime.
Over the next several decades, Red Man produced waves of baseball cards highlighting the biggest stars of the day. Early issues from the 1890s and 1900s featured legends like Cy Young, Willie Keeler, Fred Clarke, and Nap Lajoie. One of the most iconic and valuable Red Man subsets is the 1909-1911 T206 set, often nicknamed the “red backs” due to their uniform red coloring on the reverse. Dozens of Hall of Famers like Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson are depicted in these attractive vintage cards.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and other power hitters of the new “lively ball” era became popular subjects of Red Man cards. The brand gained even more traction when Pinkerton merged with American Tobacco to form the American Tobacco Company in 1954. With vastly increased resources, production and distribution of Red Man cards boomed between the late 40s and 60s, with over 170 total players spotlighted. Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and hundreds of other stars shone on the fronts of Red Man packs all through the golden age of baseball.
Parallel to Topps and Bowman, Red Man issued full annual sets regularly until discontinuing cards for several decades starting in the 1970s. It returned in a big way with “Turn Back The Clock” nostalgia sets featuring redone vintage designs in 1988 and 1991. These modern reproductions have proven very collectible as well. Other one-off subsets in more recent decades paid tribute to the Negro Leagues, player milestones, and the brand’s long history. Today, vintage Red Man cards remain highly coveted by both tobaccoiana collectors and baseball memorabilia aficionados alike.
Grading and preservation is especially important for early 1900s Red Man issues like the elusive red backs, as the fragile paper stock has not always held up well over a century since production. Still, new finds do surface occasionally thanks to the huge numbers originally distributed. Complete sets are extremely tough to compile due to the numbers and years involved, but individual stars can still be found in collectible mid-range grades. The huge popularity of icons like Cobb, Johnson, and Ruth profiled in the early issues ensures they will retain value.
While other tobacco companies may have merely dabbled printing a few baseball stars, Red Man took the unprecedented step of fully dedicated sets that evolved with the eras of the game for over 80 years. Their clever marketing helped not only raise brand visibility but also introduced legions of new fans to their favorite ballplayers through affordable packs seen in nearly every general store. Some of the most storied names in baseball history first appeared in the public eye thanks to Red Man, leaving an incredible legacy still appreciated today by both tobacco and sports card collectors. The brand’s innovative use of America’s pastime to successfully peddle chew ensured baseball cards became a fun, integral bonus for generations of users young and old.
With over a century’s worth of production imaging almost every great from the 19th century forward, Red Man baseball cards hold a really unique place in both the tobaccoiana and card collecting worlds. Their massive extended run putting the biggest names in baseball right in the palms of fans everywhere helped spread fandom and cemented the bond between baseball cards and chewing tobacco for decades. Even though the heyday of including sports incentives with tobacco has passed due to modern regulation, the historic Red Man issues are a reminder of that relationship and an iconic part of the traditions of two all-American industries.
