Daley, Pitcher, Boston, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Goodwin & Company created this baseball card, "Daley, Pitcher, Boston," around 1889 as part of a series for Old Judge Cigarettes. Its sepia tone, uniform across the figure and background, flattens the image, emphasizing its two-dimensionality and reminding us of its status as a manufactured object. The composition is rigidly structured. Daley is centered, his upright posture creating a vertical axis that anchors the card. Text is neatly arranged along the bottom edge, balancing the figure above. The background is out of focus. The figure of the baseball player, while representational, is reduced to a set of basic forms. The lack of depth directs our attention to the surface, underlining the card's status as a sign. The entire image is legible, and the baseball player is archetypal rather than individual. The card functions as a symbol. It's mass-produced, one in a series, each carrying a similar visual structure, underscoring the repetitive nature of industrial production. The sepia tone may evoke nostalgia, but ultimately, it frames the image as a commercial artifact, an element in a larger system of production and consumption.