Photograph

Well before the year 1900, baseball was already known as the American national game. Once a simple pastime for boys, it evolved in the 19th century into a commercialized spectator amusement operated by promoters and played by professionals within a nationwide, monopolistic structure called Organized Baseball. The game's history reflects much of the concurrent history of the United States, and American interest in the game has grown exponentially since its beginnings. The game was so popular that a photographer in Waterloo used this image as an advertising piece for his business. The photograph shows two boys, one holding a baseball and one with a bat, formally posed in a studio shot. What boy wouldn't want to be photographed with his favorite sporting equipment?