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davidcyclebackThe Old Judge proofs came in cabinet form (same shape mount as the regular N173s), and were shot by various studios with the studio's name on the mount. Many proofs have the Goodwin & Co embossment on the image for easy identification.
I beleive the local studio that shot the photo also sometimes sold their own Old Judge image cabinets to the public, which are neat pickups too. These will have the local studio name on the mount.
As Barry pointed out, the proofs aren't literally proofs, but were photos puchased by Goodwin & Co. in the creation of the cards. Perhaps 'production item' is better. Proofs is a convenient hobby nickname, and there's nothing wrong with a convenient nickname.
Proofs are test prints of the card (or whatever is being made) made during the creation of the card or before final printing to test for errors, colors, erc. The point is to catch errors and color/alignment problems before you print 50,000 final cards. It's much like proof reading your term paper to catch for errrors before you hand it in.
In fact, if you are making your family Christmas cards on your home comuter and you print out a few samples to see what they look like and make appropriate changes ("Don't like the font," "Crop the image better," "Use different color paper"), you are making proofs.
There are OJ fake proofs.