Joseph Brook "Joe" Gunson, Catcher, Kansas City Cowboys, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888 - 1889

This small card from the Old Judge series was produced by Goodwin & Company in the late 19th century. It features Joseph Brook “Joe” Gunson, a catcher for the Kansas City Cowboys. These cards were originally inserted into cigarette packs. As such, this image can be seen to be a part of a broader marketing strategy that linked the consumption of tobacco with popular culture. In this case, baseball. Made in a time of huge societal changes, as baseball became a national pastime, so too did the practice of collecting baseball cards. These images have become historical documents that tell us a lot about the institutions that made baseball popular and the production of early sports memorabilia. Careful research into the business records of Goodwin & Company, as well as baseball history and the wider history of advertising, helps us to understand the cultural role these images played at the time, as well as the legacy they have today.