Al C. Hungler, Pitcher, Sioux City Corn Huskers, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

Curator: This image is part of the "Old Judge" series (N172) produced around 1889 by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes. It depicts Al C. Hungler, a pitcher for the Sioux City Corn Huskers. Editor: My first impression is that it feels incredibly staged, almost theatrical. The backdrop looks like a hastily painted curtain. The way he's posed holding that bat gives the impression that someone said "Act like you're about to swing, Al." There's this contrived tension. Curator: I agree, there is that sense of deliberate pose, yet I also find it beautifully melancholic. These early albumen prints, especially the sepia tones, always evoke such a sense of time passed and stories faded. It is like staring into a lost era. Editor: Indeed. Let's not forget these images were essentially advertisements included with cigarettes, commodities intertwined with notions of masculinity and leisure. Al Hungler becomes not just a baseball player, but a signifier for this specific consumer culture of the late 19th century, linking athleticism to tobacco use, where one's status or affluence were literally being "consumed." Curator: Which brings a whole new layer of darkness. His career as a player is completely bound up with selling a potentially lethal product. It forces one to reconsider what success truly means. But technically, these types of printed portraitures did influence how athletes, celebrities, or political figures marketed themselves going forward. Editor: And the portrait really reveals the complexities inherent in promotional photography—between documentation and idealization, participation, and exploitation. We are reminded of how stars and idols function in society, then and now. What does it mean when success relies upon someone selling a cigarette brand? Is his skill really a success when that very skill supports a commodity that harms folks? Curator: These points are what is fascinating, what makes one really look beyond. This seemingly simple photograph captures that whole transition to mass media and a dawning era of mass consumption, both of which irrevocably shape everything around him and us today. A melancholy reflection on the rise and the shadow of progress itself. Editor: Right. It forces a critical examination of this nostalgic Americana, complicating what we often take as uncomplicated symbols of 'the good old days,' so called. What a way to bring complexity and truth, and to expose us to layers of truth!