William Henry "Wattie" Watkins, Manager, Kansas City Cowboys, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This small card was made by Goodwin & Company around 1888, part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series, and printed on paper. These cards, mundane as they may seem today, offer a window into the industrializing world of the late 19th century. The card's sepia tone speaks to the early photomechanical printing processes that were becoming increasingly common. These cards weren't just about baseball or commerce, they were about the industrialization of leisure, and the rise of mass media. Consider the number of hands involved in creating these objects: from the photographers, to the factory workers operating the printing presses, to the laborers harvesting and processing tobacco. The photograph is a direct representation of the subject; however, the printing process transforms that image into a commodity, packaged with cigarettes and consumed as part of a larger culture of production and consumption. It collapses distinctions between labor, leisure, and art, inviting us to see how deeply intertwined these spheres truly are.