Bill Kuehne, 3rd Base, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Goodwin & Company produced this lithograph titled "Bill Kuehne, 3rd Base, Pittsburgh," part of the Old Judge series for Old Judge Cigarettes. The sepia tones create a sense of nostalgia, while the composition is rigidly structured, typical of early baseball cards. Kuehne is centered, his stance fixed, with one arm raised as if in mid-throw. The card's format is essentially a grid, sharply dividing the image into segments of text and the photographic portrait. This division is reflective of early advertising, where clarity and order were valued over artistic expression. The lithograph's surface, now aged, enhances the graphic quality, flattening the image and reducing it to essential forms and patterns. The tension between its function as a commercial product and its status as a historical artifact highlights a dialogue about what we choose to remember and how. The print's formal constraints, while seemingly simple, reveal much about the values and priorities of its time.