John Francis Coleman, Right Field, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This is a photographic print of John Francis Coleman, right fielder for Pittsburgh, made around 1887 by Goodwin and Company, New York, for their Old Judge Cigarettes series. At the time, baseball cards like this were not primarily about sport; rather, they were promotional tools used by tobacco companies to boost sales. This little card shows how deeply advertising had begun to penetrate American culture. Cigarettes were aggressively marketed. The Old Judge series suggests the cultural associations that advertisers hoped to create. To understand the impact of this image, we need to understand the cultural history of American tobacco companies, the rise of baseball as a popular spectacle, and the emergence of modern advertising techniques. Further research into these areas will reveal the social and institutional forces that shaped this seemingly simple card.