Henry Carl "Hank" Gastright, Pitcher, Cleveland, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Editor: Here we have a baseball card from 1889, featuring Henry Carl "Hank" Gastright, a pitcher for Columbus. It’s from the "Old Judge" series, produced by Goodwin & Company for their cigarette brand. It appears to be a photographic print. There’s a sepia tone to it that makes me think of old photographs. What catches your eye about this piece? Curator: What's most compelling here is not the sport itself, but the confluence of factors contributing to its production and circulation. Think about it: this isn’t just a picture; it's a commodity produced as part of the tobacco industry, designed to encourage consumption. Consider the material conditions—the photographic process, the printing techniques, and the distribution networks—all intertwined with the rise of mass culture and advertising. The image serves as both a promotional tool for Old Judge Cigarettes, normalizing tobacco use, and as a collectible item, encouraging further engagement with the brand. Editor: That makes me think about the players themselves. Were they compensated for their images being used in this way? Curator: That's an interesting and pertinent question. More than likely the baseball players benefited minimally if at all. In those days there wasn’t strong players' unions that we have now, which brings the conversation around to labor. The workforce, predominantly women and children at the time, manually inserted those cards into cigarette packages, essentially cheap, invisible labor propping up a burgeoning industry. Don't you find that context changes our view of this card? Editor: Absolutely! Seeing it this way really opens my eyes to all the layers involved beyond just a picture of a baseball player. It is an artifact deeply rooted in labor practices, consumer culture, and industrial processes. Curator: Exactly. It allows us to re-evaluate this baseball card beyond its face value and analyze the material conditions of its making.