Caruthers, Pitcher, Brooklyn, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Curator: This is "Caruthers, Pitcher, Brooklyn," a photographic print produced by Goodwin & Company around 1888. Part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series, it features a portrait of a baseball player named Caruthers. Editor: Wow, it feels so fragile, yet enduring. I mean, imagine holding a piece of baseball history printed on what was essentially a cigarette card! There's something poetic about the fleeting nature of a smoke break intersecting with this desire for immortality through sport. Curator: Indeed. These Old Judge cards were quite common as trade cards and inserts to promote businesses like cigarette brands. Think of it as a snapshot into the popular culture of the late 19th century, particularly the rising fascination with baseball. Note how the background is stark. Editor: I love that almost sepia quality to it, a tonal distillation of that bygone era. I can almost smell the dusty bleachers and hear the crack of the bat in some phantom, collective memory. Curator: Right, that's precisely it! Consider how the formal composition reinforces the player's almost heroic stature—a common trope, obviously, but charged nonetheless when rendered via these then cutting-edge photographic processes. The visual language seeks to legitimize not just Caruthers, but also baseball itself. Editor: And Caruthers almost dares you to look away, that gaze... Is it confidence, weariness, or just plain boredom waiting for his next play? Perhaps it reflects the existential pondering about the role of sports icons in our modern societies. Or perhaps not... It feels right, either way. Curator: An interesting speculation! Maybe it reveals how these images construct archetypes... Or it's simply a very tired athlete fulfilling a contractual obligation for a picture! Editor: True. Perhaps that's why it fascinates us, this collision of intentional design and potential candor, a relic capturing sport's dawn. Curator: I think you are spot-on. Thank you. Editor: Of course. My pleasure.