John Joseph "Jocko" Fields, Catcher, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This baseball card of John Joseph "Jocko" Fields was produced in 1887 by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. It is a modest artifact, but offers insight into the social and economic history of late 19th-century America. The image captures Fields, a catcher for Pittsburgh, in action, alongside a batter. Baseball’s surging popularity at this time mirrored America's industrial expansion and urbanization. Produced in New York, this card exemplifies the growing commercialization of leisure. The placement of this card within packs of cigarettes also reveals a strategy to broaden the appeal of tobacco products. It's a reminder that understanding art requires attention to the economic structures and marketing strategies that shaped its production and distribution. Such understanding can be enhanced by exploring archives of advertising history, and studies of baseball as a business.