Alf Sidney Champion, billed on the reverse as an "Artistic Whittler" from St. Paul, Minnesota, poses in full patriotic performance costume dressed as "Uncle Sam" in this striking cabinet card by Howie of 227 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, dating to the mid-1880s based on mount style. Champion was among the novelty variety performers who built touring acts around unusual skills during the rise of American vaudeville, and the deliberate theatricality of his costume and pose marks this as a promotional portrait made while on the road.

Champion leans against a tufted velvet parlor chair with practiced ease, wearing a fantastical striped "Uncle Sam" costume of broad vertical panels in white and dark satin that cover his jacket, trousers, and tall cylindrical top hat. A large bow tie sits at his collar and a slender cane rests in his right hand. He gazes to his left with a composed, slightly elevated expression that reads as theatrical rather than personal.

The reverse carries a fully drawn pencil inscription in ornate lettering reading "Alf. Sidney Champion, Artistic Whittler, St. Paul, Minn." The mount face bears the printed imprint of Howie, 227 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit.