Clark, Catcher, Brooklyn, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887 - 1890

This small card, featuring Clark, Catcher for Brooklyn, was created by Goodwin & Company as part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series. These cards emerged during a time of rapid industrialization and urbanization in America. Baseball was becoming the nation’s pastime, but what did it mean to capture and commodify the players in this way? Consider that the image of Clark, a working-class athlete, becomes a tool for selling cigarettes. The card participates in the construction of celebrity, but also in a culture of consumption deeply intertwined with ideas of masculinity and the performance of gender. The image captures a moment of action, yet freezes it, transforming the player into a static object. It highlights the complex intersection of sport, commerce, and identity in late 19th-century America. Its intimacy invites us to consider the relationship between public image and personal identity.