William Moffat "Billy" Earle, Catcher, Cincinnati, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This photographic print of William Moffat "Billy" Earle was produced by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. It’s a humble object: a mass-produced card, slipped into packs of cigarettes, used to stiffen the package and advertise the brand. But consider the way the image itself was made. Photography, even at this stage in its technological development, was a complex industrial process. The glass-plate negatives, the chemical baths used for development, the printing presses that produced this card in the thousands—all of these were products of an economy based on industrial scale. This image offers a fascinating commentary on labor. Not just the labor of the baseball player, but also the labor of the many unseen workers who made this image possible, and the literal embodiment of labor, as it was consumed through the commodification of everyday needs and desires. Paying attention to materials, making, and context helps us recognize that even the most unassuming image can be a window into the complex social dynamics of its time.