George F. "Piano Legs" Gore, Center Field, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This small card, made by Goodwin & Company around 1887, features George “Piano Legs” Gore, a center fielder for New York. It’s from the “Old Judge” series, produced as promotional items for Old Judge Cigarettes. These cards were made using photography, then a relatively new technology, printed on thin paper stock. The sepia tone comes from the printing process itself. These cards were essentially mass-produced collectibles, and they speak volumes about the rise of both baseball as a spectator sport and the burgeoning advertising industry at the time. Consider the labor involved: from the photographers capturing the image, to the printers churning out thousands of these cards, to the factory workers producing the cigarettes themselves. All this, to create a collectible item that would be discarded. The baseball card is humble and fascinating, reflecting the dawn of consumer culture and the celebrity athlete.