William A. "Bill" Fagan, Pitcher, Kansas City Cowboys, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1888

Editor: This is a baseball card from 1888, featuring William A. "Bill" Fagan, a pitcher for the Kansas City Cowboys. It's an albumen print, originally produced as part of a series for Old Judge Cigarettes. It feels very…stiff. What do you see in it? Curator: What immediately strikes me is how this small, mass-produced object speaks to the very heart of late 19th-century American identity. The idealized portrait of the athlete, a burgeoning national hero, is intertwined with the symbolic weight of tobacco and commerce. Think about what baseball represented then—a symbol of unity and national pride following the Civil War. How does this square with its association with a commercial product? Editor: That's interesting! I hadn’t thought about the link between baseball and national identity in that way. So, the cigarette brand leverages that symbolism to promote its product? Curator: Precisely. And Fagan, as the archetypal pitcher, embodies strength and precision – virtues projected onto the nation itself. The very act of collecting these cards creates a community, reinforcing those shared values. Look at his stance, his carefully controlled grip on the ball, all meant to project control, isn’t it? It also suggests what men are “supposed to be." Editor: It's also interesting to think about how these images created a cultural memory of these players. Even if people didn't see him play, they would recognize his image, thus securing a specific imagery related to an era. Curator: Exactly. Through mass reproduction and circulation, Fagan and others became almost mythic figures, shaping our understanding of what it meant to be an American athlete – an idol constructed and perpetuated by commerce. A lot to unpack. Editor: I'll definitely look at these cards differently now, understanding that cultural load that these old images carry is a lot richer than just collecting things.