In 1888 and 89 Goodwin & Co. improved their already successful practice of including a photographic baseball card in each pack of Old Judge or Gypsy Queen Cigarettes by including a coupon a number of which could be redeemed for a cabinet photograph of a ballplayer.The cabinets known today as N173 Old Judge (or the more scarce Dog"s Head) Cabinets are a scarce and highly desirable 19th Century issue. Since the known N173s are larger-sized versions of the photographic N172 Old Judge cards it is speculated that the N173 set could conceivably be as large and wide-ranging as its N172 counterpart. Since customers redeeming coupons were able to choose the cabinet card they wanted it stands to reason that the day"s stars and future Hall of Famers were more plentiful than lesser-known players and it is reasonable to speculate that cards of players from more densely populated areas were also available in a more plentiful supply. St. Louis third baseman Arlie Latham was known equally for his base-stealing prowess his poor fielding and his practical jokes. Latham"s career over by the dawn of the 20th Century is nonetheless well-chronicled by baseball historians. One of the games early colorful characters Latham was the reason for the invention of the coaches" box - as third base coach Latham would run up and down the line jockeying and distracting the opposing pitcher. The coaching box rule was instilled as a way of keeping Latham in one place while he coached at third.This is a beautiful example of a highly sought-after cabinet card from one of the more popular cabinet issues. The image of Latham pictured holding his bat is crisp and clear with some minor fading near the bottom of the photo where his name and position is inscribed. While the mount exhibits wear at the corners and edges the photo is largely undamaged (aside from general surface wear consistent with any photo of this age). The reverse also shows considerable wear but nothing that resembles actual damage to the mount and nothing that would reduce the grade of the item below the VG range.This is