Name/Title
Nap Rucker Sweet Caporal Cigarette Chromolithograph CardEntry/Object ID
2022.1.12Description
Nap Rucker baseball card from cigarette package circa 1909- encasedContext
See also the full George Napoleon / Nap Rucker profile. He was the first probaseball player from the Crabapple area. He became a businessman,and politician upon retirement from the game. Forerunner to baseball cards, cigarette companies placed these inside their packages to encourage brand loyalty and consumer trading. Sweet Caporal launched as a brand in 1878, persevered through a merger and survived the subsequent dissolution of a cigarette trust after United States v. American Tobacco Co. It turned into a money making brand for the reconstituted American Tobacco Company on a par with Pall Mall and Mecca. In the beginning of the 20th century, it became especially popular in Canada. American Tobacco Company entered the Canadian market in 1895 by acquiring the Montreal-based American Cigarette Company and D. Ritchie & Co. forming the American Tobacco Company of Canada, Ltd. In 1908, when American Tobacco Company of Canada was bought out by the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada, Sweet Caporal cigarettes commanded a 50-percent share of the Canadian market; the brand continued in Canada until 2011.Collection
Mark AmickAcquisition
Accession
2022.1Source or Donor
Mark AmickAcquisition Method
Gift