Franklin Washington "Gid" Gardner, Shortstop, Washington Nationals, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Editor: Here we have an 1888 portrait of Franklin Washington “Gid” Gardner, a shortstop for the Washington Nationals. It's part of the “Old Judge” series, used to advertise Old Judge Cigarettes, and it seems to be a print, likely from a photograph, perhaps with some coloured-pencil work. I'm really struck by the seemingly everyday association of sports and commercialism at the time. How do you see the context shaping this image? Curator: For me, this card is all about the intersection of industrial processes, celebrity culture, and the rise of consumer capitalism. Consider how the mass production of cigarettes fueled a demand for novel marketing strategies. These cards weren't fine art objects in the traditional sense. They were, in fact, cheap, mass-produced commodities that had a practical use tied to larger financial operations. Editor: So, the card's value is tied more to the cigarette industry than the art world? Curator: Precisely. It served to increase demand for the product, cigarettes, thus driving capitalist goals. Even the image itself— a portrait of an athlete made via photo-mechanical processes—highlights the transformation of the human body into a consumable image. Note also the player's gesture -- in action, he’s frozen. This is what manufacture seeks to accomplish as a key capitalist tenet. Where would you say value is being produced, for whom, and through what medium? Editor: I guess I never really thought of sports memorabilia this way, as a form of labour and commercial enterprise so tied together in production! Curator: It highlights the extent to which these supposedly separate realms are deeply entwined. Think of the human labour that had to take place to produce each commodity - photography, design, print and packaging! Editor: Definitely changed how I will perceive art from now on.