Horning, Left Field, Boston, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This baseball card, featuring a portrait of a baseball player, was made by Goodwin & Company in 1887 as part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series. The card, made of paper and printed with an early photographic process, was a piece of commercial ephemera, included in cigarette packs to encourage sales. The image's materiality speaks volumes about the relationship between consumerism and leisure in the late 19th century. The production of these cards involved a complex interplay of labor: from the factory workers who assembled the cigarettes to the photographers and printers who created the cards. The cards brought visual culture to a wider public, and at a low cost, due to industrialized production. The fact that these cards are now in a museum collection speaks to how everyday objects can become valuable cultural artifacts, blurring the lines between commercial product and art. Understanding the material and social context of these cards helps us appreciate how they reflect the rise of consumer culture and the changing landscape of leisure and labor in American society.