Elmer Ellsworth Foster, Center Field, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Here is the audio guide script: Goodwin & Company created this promotional baseball card of Elmer Ellsworth Foster in 1888 for Old Judge Cigarettes. The sepia tone flattens the image, emphasizing the subject’s posture and position. Foster stands diagonally across the frame, bat in hand, the composition highlights a tension between stillness and action. The soft-focus background suggests a pastoral setting, but the foreground is clearly staged. The use of photography flattens depth and renders the subject somewhat ambiguous, as his gaze meets the viewer's. This card, like others in the series, functions as both a commercial object and a cultural artifact. The rigid composition and the player's fixed pose reflect the formal constraints of early sports photography. This card is not just a portrait of an athlete, but also a signifier of American identity and consumer culture at the turn of the century. The use of a repeatable photograph allows for its mass distribution, signifying the shift to an era of reproducible media.