William F. "Bill" Greenwood, 2nd Base, Cleveland, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

This baseball card, made by Goodwin & Company around 1887, is a simple paper rectangle printed with a photographic image and text. What’s interesting is how this unassuming little artifact connects to vast systems of labor, politics, and consumption. Consider its materiality. The card is a product of industrial processes: photography, printing, and mass production. Goodwin & Company, like other cigarette manufacturers, used these cards as a promotional tool. They were inserted into cigarette packs, enticing customers to collect complete sets. The image itself, a posed portrait of William F. "Bill" Greenwood, speaks to the burgeoning celebrity culture of the late 19th century. Baseball players were becoming public figures, and their likenesses were used to sell products. The amount of work involved in producing these cards is staggering. From the photographers and printers to the factory workers who packaged the cigarettes, countless hands contributed to the making of this small piece of ephemera. In the end, it reminds us that even the most seemingly trivial objects are embedded in complex networks of production and exchange.