George Gore, New York Giants, baseball card portrait [Image]. (1887-1890). Library of Congress. URL (https://www.loc.gov/resource/bbc.0264f/)
This artifact is a baseball card of George Gore preserved by the card collector Benjamin K. Edwards. Edwards has collected and kept over 2,000 baseball cards from 1887 to 1914. This George Gore photographic card was produced by Goodwin & Co in 1888. The cards made by the company were shared and spread in cigarette packs to support flimsy packaging but also to advertise different teams and their players. George Gore was one of the many great players from his time, and this card portrays his memorable career playing for the New York Giants. (The Library of Congress, n.d.)
I selected this artifact because I grew up collecting baseball cards, and I continue to do so today. It is incredible to look at the history of how they started and the ways they have advanced. The fact that many players from this card company were some of the most well-known players and were the backing to cigarette packs is wild. Now, cards are sold in packs of their own, and if you preserve your collection, they become worth a lot in time. People are after certain cards because they hold a story of where they came from, who they play for, and their performance. The history is valuable!
I found the artifact in the Baseball Cards collection of the Library of Congress, and there are many more like it. I am interested in learning more about when and what factors contributed when baseball cards became less of an advertisement and more of a unit of their own.
References
The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Collection: Baseball Cards. The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/baseball-cards/about-this-collection/
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