Charles Marv "Pop" Smith, Shortstop, Pittsburgh, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

Editor: Here we have an 1887 baseball card from the Old Judge series featuring Charles "Pop" Smith. It’s a photographic print, originally made for the Old Judge Cigarette Factory. There’s something incredibly stark and honest about it. What’s your take on this artifact? Curator: Immediately, I’m drawn to the intersection of leisure and industry. This isn’t just a portrait of an athlete; it's a commodity, intrinsically linked to the burgeoning tobacco industry and the rise of mass consumerism. Editor: Commodity, yes! How so? Curator: The photograph, reproduced as a trading card, becomes a promotional tool. It entices consumers to purchase cigarettes. Think about the material process involved: the photography, the printing, the distribution bundled with tobacco products, reaching a wide audience. How does that mass production impact the perception of "art," or even athleticism? Editor: So you're saying that its value shifts from being purely about baseball or portraiture into the realm of advertising and market influence? Curator: Precisely. Consider the labor involved. Whose hands touched this object? From the photographer and the printing press operators to the factory workers packing cigarettes and cards together, a whole network is essential to its existence. What does that labor tell us about society at the time? Editor: That shifts my perspective entirely. It’s easy to see it just as a vintage baseball card, but now I recognize its connection to production and commercial forces. Curator: Right. By acknowledging those material and economic factors, we get a richer, more complicated understanding.