William "Buck" Ewing, Captain and Catcher, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This small card was printed by Goodwin & Company around 1887, part of a series called "Old Judge Cigarettes." It features William "Buck" Ewing, captain and catcher for New York. Printing images on paper was increasingly automated at this time. Photography had become a mass medium, and here, it became a promotional tool. Think about the amount of labor that went into producing this small image. From the farmer who grew the tobacco, to the factory workers who processed it into cigarettes, to the photographer, and the printing press operators who churned out thousands of these cards. The card is made from thin paper, likely mass-produced, and printed with a sepia-toned image. The texture is smooth, a result of the printing process. The image shows a baseball player in his uniform, caught in a moment of action. This portrait was a way to promote the cigarette brand, and it blurred the lines between commerce, celebrity, and sport. These humble artifacts remind us that all objects, even mass-produced ones, are the product of countless hands and industrial processes, and offer insight into the society that made them.