Tobacco companies hired photographer Paul Thompson to create baseball-card imagery, and his photographs became the basis for many cards sold with cigarettes around 1910.
Notes on verification
Strongly corroborated by Library of Congress, SABR, and a collector source, though 'hired by tobacco companies' slightly overstates the relationship—Thompson was an independent photographer whose work was licensed/used by American Tobacco Co. rather than a direct employee.
Sources
- Would Baseball have Become America's National Pastime Without ... (smithsonianmag.com)
- https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007675750/ (loc.gov)
- https://sabr.org/latest/canale-paul-thompsons-pioneering-baseball-portraits/ (sabr.org)
- https://chapmandeadballcollection.com/a-paul-thompson-photo-stamp-primer/ (chapmandeadballcollection.com)