Burns, 3rd Base, Chicago, from the series Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This baseball card of Burns, a third baseman for Chicago, was made by Goodwin & Company as part of their Old Judge Cigarettes series. It’s a photograph, reproduced in countless identical copies. Think about the labor involved, not just in taking the picture, but in the industrial processes that made this image so widely available. These cards weren't meant for a museum. They were cheap promotional items included in cigarette packs. The picture would have been taken using a large format camera to produce a glass plate negative, which then would have been used to produce this image. The photograph itself is sepia-toned, giving it a nostalgic feel, even when new. It’s printed on thin paper stock, emphasizing its disposability. In its original context, the card was an advertisement, an encouragement for working-class consumers to partake in a habit that would enrich the manufacturers. This wasn't high art, but a cog in the machine of commerce, reflecting the industrialization and mass production of both images and consumer goods.