Radford, Right Field, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This is a Goodwin & Company tobacco card from around 1888, featuring Radford of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms baseball team. These cards, distributed with Old Judge Cigarettes, offer a fascinating window into the burgeoning commercialization of leisure and the strategies of early advertising. The image itself is a study in constructed masculinity. Radford, posed mid-swing, embodies the idealized athlete. But the card also speaks to the role of corporations in shaping popular culture. The late 19th century saw a boom in both baseball’s popularity and the tobacco industry's reach. These cards weren't just about promoting cigarettes; they were about associating the brand with the vigor and excitement of the sport. Understanding this image requires digging into the business history of companies like Goodwin, the rise of baseball as a spectacle, and the social history of smoking. It's a reminder that even seemingly simple images are embedded in complex networks of economic and cultural forces.