Peter J. "Pete" Conway, Pitcher, Detroit Wolverines, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This is Peter J. "Pete" Conway, Pitcher, Detroit Wolverines, a baseball card produced around 1888 by Goodwin & Company for their Old Judge Cigarettes. In the late 19th century, baseball was rapidly gaining popularity in the United States and commercial entities quickly realized its advertising potential. Cigarette companies, like Goodwin & Company, began including baseball cards in their packaging. The cards functioned as promotional items, but also as collectables. This commercialization of sports imagery reflects broader economic and cultural shifts. The rise of mass media and consumer culture helped to turn athletes into celebrities and create markets for related merchandise. This card, like others in the series, provides a glimpse into the visual culture of the era and the ways in which sports, advertising, and popular culture were intertwined. To understand such images, we look to archives and period publications, to trace the emergence of baseball and of mass advertising. Ultimately we try to reconstruct the social world that gave value to these ephemeral objects.